Tuesday, August 27, 2024 - The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has vowed to utilise its enforcement powers to ensure that Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa complies with the recent summons.
This comes after Barasa publicly
refused to honour the summons to appear before EACC for grilling over the
suspicious money that was transferred to his bank account.
The EACC emphasized its
statutory capability to enforce compliance from uncooperative
suspects.
"EACC is vested with
appropriate enforcement powers and mechanisms to compel the attendance of an
uncooperative suspect who is required to appear before it," the commission
stated.
"No suspect can purport to
choose or pretend to enjoy the discretion of whether or not to honour summons
by investigative agencies."
Barasa, in his response to the
summons, dismissed the EACC’s jurisdiction over the matter, labeling it a
civil issue and stating his intention to resolve the dispute in civil court
instead.
"Let the lady go to the
civil court and I will meet her there. For your summons, I will not come. I
will not show up," Barasa declared defiantly.
Barasa further argued that the
commission was overstepping its mandate by delving into what he
described as a personal financial matter.
He also provided some context to
the transaction, claiming it was a soft loan from a fellow politician.
"I would like to bring to
your attention that the deposit of Ksh2,000,000 to my bank account was a soft
loan from the said politician who unsuccessfully ran for governor in a county
in Kenya on 13th December 2023," Barasa explained.
He stressed that any contractual
disputes arising from this transaction were his private concern and not within
the EACC's scope.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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