KeRRA official asks court to unfreeze Sh21m ‘wedding cash’

A Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) official is seeking the release of Sh21 million frozen by the court last week.

Daniel Wambua has moved to court asking for the funds to be unfrozen so that he can proceed to pay a dowry for his wife-to-be.

Last week, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) got orders to freeze Wambua’s accounts including one account that has the amount which he now claims was specifically for dowry payment.

Through lawyer Danstan Omari, Wambua now says the EACC erroneously tagged the account, which had been opened specifically for dowry payments, and his family and friends had contributed to that kitty.

According to court papers, the account in question was not a personal one but was registered as Daniel Wambua Dowry Payment and it was to run for a period of four months until his big day.

He has attached the bank opening form and also the Whatsapp group that was used to collect the funds for the dowry. At least 800 people have contributed towards the dowry, which now lies in limbo due to the freezing of the account. He says people are still sending money to that account as contributions towards his dowry payment.

Omari says his client is required by tradition to fulfil his promise of dowry payment and is yet to do that due to the freezing of the account on the basis that the money was obtained in a corrupt way.

“The amount in the DANIEL WAMBUA DOWRY PAYMENT Account number 0840184059257 was specifically for the purpose of collecting funds from friends and well-wishers for the purposes of dowry payment for my intended marriage to my wife of choice,” Wambua in his court papers.

He says the funds from that account are not from his earnings but from well-wishers and friends which cannot be said to be proceed of crime.

“There was an online platform group created by those who wished to contribute and pledge to my cause whereas a Whatsapp group was duly formed and contributions began to be channelled virtually via MPesa pay bill number 247247 account 221666,” Wambua claims.

Wambua further says he is well-known in his community and that’s why he got that much money as a contribution towards his dowry payment.

He has attached the Whatsapp group with the contribution lists stating what each person contributed towards the wedding. He says EACC should tell the court the interest they have in his marriage, which led them to halt his ceremony without any justifiable reasons thereby causing him embarrassment with his in-laws.