The Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives are on the hunt for Nairobi County Assembly Clerk Jacob Ngwele after the DPP Noordin Haji ordered his arrest.
Ngwele’s arrest order, along with four senior county officials and a business proprietor, was occasioned by accusations of defrauding the county through illegal and unscrupulous tendering.
On Friday, Ngwele escaped a DCI dragnet where three of his colleagues were apprehended. Since then, his phone has been off and his whereabouts unknown.
The three officials taken into custody on Friday include Deputy Clerk Adah Awuor Onyango, senior Procurement Officer James Kariuki Kaguma and senior Finance and Planning Officer Frederick Macharia Mwangi.
Others involved yet to be arrested include the owner of Primera Ventures Raphael Mwinzi Maluka and principal Accountant Philomena Kavinya Nzuki.
Investigations on the County Assembly’s 2016/2017 financial year internal audit report revealed Primera Ventures was improperly awarded a tender to supply books worth Ksh997,926 to the Nairobi County Assembly Resource Center with the Assembly making payments on June 29, 2017, without any supply done.
“I have independently reviewed the file and I am satisfied that the persons named herein actively participated in the perpetration of the alleged criminal activities and should therefore be charged and prosecuted,” he went on.
Ngwele’s tribulations began in June when Speaker Beatrice Elachi called for investigations into numerous allegations of financial malpractice, writing to the DCI on several instances of illegal procurement done by the Office of the Clerk.
In another instance, Nairobi West Member of County Assembly Maurice Gari proposed a motion to have Ngwele’s appointment revoked, alleging his name was not tabled before the Assembly for approval as required by the County Assembly Services Act Article 18(A) on the process of appointing a clerk.
Later in the month, Ngwele and Elachi’s differences led to an almost physical alteration, which led to both the officials’ suspensions by the County Assembly Services Board to pave way for investigations to be conducted.
