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Senators have directed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to commence investigations into the motive behind the fire incident in Kitui County linked to a Sh10 billion suspected cover-up.

It has emerged that the 2019 inferno that took place former Cabinet Minister Charity Ngilu was the Kitui Governor was not investigated despite documents for audit of a Sh10billion going up in flames.

A House committee has directed current Governor Dr Julius Malombe to write to the DCI and EACC to open fresh investigations into the fire incident within 30 days.

The Senate’s Public Accounts Committee chaired by Homa Bay lawmaker Moses Kajwang’ claimed that there could have been collusion and foul play among the officials of the Ngilu administration.

Kajwang’ said games were being played with the aim of covering up the expenditure of public resources amounting to Sh10billion.

He, instead, questioned how the fire happened just nine days to the end of the financial year and affected only the Treasury, saying it must have been “a very intelligent fire outbreak.”

“The money came to Kitui and disappeared on July 21, 2019, and nothing is happening. There is no way an allocation for a financial year just went up in smoke. If the Sh10billion went up in smoke then some people should be in jail,” said Kajwang’.

Private pockets

He went on: “If EACC cannot investigate this and tell us if the money went to private pockets, then we rather dissolve counties as other governors will just burn offices with crucial documents and just go scot-free. We will pursue this matter to the point where Kitui residents will be satisfied.”

While considering reports by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the financial years ending June 2020 and 2021, the committee took former Kitui Finance CEC Ben Katungi, who served as Finance CEC between October 2019 and February 2023, to task over the fire incident.

In his response to the committee, Malombe, who was the pioneer governor, disclosed that his administration had very secure fireproof cabinets, adding that he does not understand how the fire could have consumed the documents.