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The Nairobi Anti-Corruption court has ordered the release Sh2 million belonging to former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya (pictured).

Nairobi Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile gave the orders after Oparanya’s lawyers protested the confiscation of the cash, saying police had no orders to do so.

The lawyers argued that the orders issued to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) only granted them access to any documentary evidence and any other relevant material connected to ownership of properties acquired through proceeds of crime and irregular procurement process at the county government of Kakamega.

Raided homes

The former governor said the orders displayed by the EACC detectives who raided his homes in Butere, Kakamega county and Runda in Nairobi only allowed them to obtain, seize and carry away any documentary evidence and electronic devices including computers, storage devices and mobile phones.

The orders further required Oparanya to facilitate EACC’s access to passwords, security codes and patterns to enable them access information stored.

“The orders did not allow them to carry any document without demonstrating the relationship between the document and the alleged crime,” Oparanya protested.

“Your honour we do not understand the relationship between some of the confiscated items like cheque books and money in the alleged crime,” he stated.