EACC Summons CS Najib Balala

An officer from the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) on Friday confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke that the commission had summoned Tourism CS Najib Balala

The CS is being investigated over an alleged irregular award of a Ksh100 million contract to  American Society of Travel Agents-Kenya in 2017.  

The firm was contracted during 2016/2017 financial year to offer services during Ministry of Tourism exhibitions held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).

The investigations indicate that the company was awarded the contract despite not being among those prequalified. 

The commission also claimed that the Department of Tourism did not have a budget for the expenditure. 

“The ministry has not been able to show us which type of services were offered or provide documents on how the payments were done,” a source privy to the investigation told The Standard

CS Balala took to Twitter earlier in the day to dismiss reports that his homes had been raided by detectives conducting the investigations. 

"No raids have taken place at my house as claimed by The Standard Newspaper today, the journalist was aware prior to publishing the report of the same. My legal team is handling the matter," Balala wrote. 

He added that his ministry had cooperated with detectives from the onset of the investigations in February 2017. 

Balala also claimed that the partnership with the firm in question had helped double the number of tourist arrivals from the US in 2018.