Former Baringo Central Member of Parliament Silas Mwaita was on Sunday, August 3, arrested on suspicion of several illegalities, including land fraud.
Mwaita’s arrest was confirmed by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which revealed he was apprehended by detectives in Kilimani.
According to the DCI, Mwaita, alongside his accomplice, has been on detectives' radar over a conspiracy to commit a felony.
Mwaita is believed to have been involved in a land fraud case related to two prime plots located along Mai Mahiu Road in Nairobi West. Both plots, according to the DCI, are valued at millions of shillings.
“Detectives have today arrested Hon. Sammy Silas Komen Mwaita at Kilimani for the offences of Conspiracy to commit a felony, Making a document without authority, Abuse of office and giving false information to a person employed in the public service,” a statement from the DCI read.
Besides conspiracy to commit a felony, Mwaita also faces accusations of making a document without authority, abuse of office, and giving false information to a person employed in the public service.
The former MP's arrest was recommended by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which gathered sufficient evidence to justify his apprehension before contacting the DCI.
Mwaita, who was first elected as Baringo Central MP in 2007, has been the subject of controversy in recent years, with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission embroiled in legal battles with the lawmaker dating back to 2009.
Before becoming an MP, Mwaita was a long-serving civil servant and briefly served as the Commissioner of Lands during the Moi era between the years 2000 and 2003.
In 2022, Mwaita, who had served as Baringo Central MP for two months, was summoned by the EACC on allegations of abuse of office, conflict of interest and fraudulent acquisition of public property.
Two years later, the former MP’s name was once again dragged into a controversial land case, which was being pursued by the EACC.
At the time, the EACC announced the recovery of a prime parcel of land in Kakamega, which was allegedly irregularly allocated to a defendant when Mwaita was the lands commissioner.
