‘You behaved in an opaque manner’ – Karua slams EACC over Oparanya’s arrest
Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua claims officers from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) violated the law in the arrest of former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya on Wednesday, August 23.
In a post social media post on Thursday, Karua alleged that detectives attached to the anti-graft body abused their power in the arrest and detention of the former county boss.
According to Karua, the officers denied the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leader access to his legal team, against the law of the land.
"You behaved in an opaque manner and abused power in his arrest and detention. You barred us as lawyers from accessing @GovWOparanya at your offices and dictated who could or could not access him thus violating the law," Karua wrote on X, formally Twitter.
She added: "As public officers you are required to operate within the law."
You behaved in an opaque manner and abused power in his arrest and detention . You barred us as lawyers from accessing @GovWOparanya at your offices and dictated who could or could not access him thus violating the law . As public officers you are required to operate within the… https://t.co/NJ9Dwg6Z9i
— Martha Karua SC (@MarthaKarua) August 24, 2023
Oparanya and his two wives were arrested over alleged corruption and economic crimes committed during his tenure as Kakamega governor.
EACC officers also raided Oparanya's Lang'ata and Butere homes and carted away a number of documents for investigation.
Confirming the arrests, EACC said they had been conducting investigations into embezzlement of funds from the County under Oparanya’s watch between 2013 and 2022.
According to EACC Deputy CEO Abdi Mohamud, at least Ksh1.3 billion was misappropriated during Oparanya's reign through proxies and associates.
"The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission wishes to confirm that today, Wednesday, 23rd August 2023, the Commission conducted a successful search on various targets as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of embezzlement of public funds amounting to over Ksh1.3 billion from Kakamega County during the reign of former Governor, Wycliffe Oparanya, and where it was found that public funds were unlawfully acquired through proxies and associates," Mohamud said.
"The former Governor was this morning brought to EACC Headquarters at Integrity Centre in Nairobi to clarify several issues and record a statement on the ongoing investigation."
Abdi also urged the leaders and the general public to allow EACC to discharge its mandate and to desist from politicizing and ethnicizing the work of independent offices.
The Oparanyas were later freed after recording statements at the EACC headquarters in Nairobi.
