Busia County residents are subjected to confusion in the absence of their county boss Sospeter Ojaamong and finance CEC Phaustine Barasa after mysterious fire razed down the county’s finance office destroying important files, vital documents and computer packages.
The incident has irked anti-graft agencies who have vowed to bring to book corrupt individuals despite the obvious sabotage attempt through fires, a trend that seems to be quickly catching up just months after a similar incident was witnessed in Homabay county.
The mysterious Busia fire comes at a time when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission were narrowing on two corruption cases where the county has reportedly lost millions of shillings through dubious deals that saw Evam Enterprises Ltd, Draccy Ltd and Loviannah Ltd companies investigated.
Top officials who were allegedly involved in corruption cases are said to be having busy moments with their lawyers to remain alert on any eventuality after the fire incident.
Matters that are likely to follow regarding investigation in Busia are bound to get nasty for those directly and indirectly involved in corruption web that has swindled the county billions of shillings.
Two Busia county finance officers were immediately nabbed over the fire that mercilessly razed the county finance office burning crucial files and computers.
At the same time, the anti-graft officials are investigating how a senior accountant owned three companies by way of proxies and used the same to siphon Sh. 56 million from the county treasury between 2015 and 2019.
The officer in question opted for a daring move and engaged his wife and a brother as the directors of the three companies that are now being investigated from the top level of EACC and DPP.
A red flag was raised after it emerged that the three companies owned by the senior accountant through his wife and a brother were awarded a total of Sh26 multimillion tenders by different departments from the office of the governor, lands, water and finance.
Out of the 26 tenders the three companies in question were awarded, ten contracts worth Sh33 million by the finance department where the senior account is the one calling the shots.
Inside sources said that after the officials learnt that they were tightly cornered, they opted for a Homabay style where evidence was set on fire at the time detectives had pitched camp at the corruption ridden County
In Homabay, the offices of Governor Cyprian Awiti caught fire just when EACC detectives had walked away with some documents and computers touching on the alleged loss of Sh5 billion through improprieties of senior county government officials.
Arsonists who set the office a blaze are beleived to be from Kisumu, however, there have been talks centrally placing the Homabay Internal Auditor Julius Polo and County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe behind the incident.
Sources indicated that Internal Auditor Julius Polo literally carried Sh. 5 million in cash all way from Homabay to Kisumu where he delivered the cash to the identified arsonists.
Further reports also revealed that Polo and Ogwe are in frantic efforts to divert the attention of the investigators and in a calculative move which has now resorted to sacrifice some of the staff embroiled in dubious impress payment.
The affected staff members have been reporting to the DCI headquarters Kiambu in batches to record statement over the imprest anomalies yet there are arguments that the matter should be given civil attention as opposed to criminal offence.
Understandably, the millions of shillings that disappeared through the imprest payment should be deducted from the respective accounts of those involved and unable to produce supportive documents.
But for the case of Polo and Ogwe, they are advancing an idea that they are out to fight mega corruption at the Homa Bay county by putting legendary energy on the imprest payment while at the same time praying that it would help play perfect cover up in the previous Sh. 5 billion scandal in which they have been prominently mentioned.
