BY SAM ALFAN.
Kisumu County Assembly speaker has petitioned the High Court seeking to block the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission together with the Director of Public Prosecutions from prosecution him over graft allegations.
In his urgent application George Onyango Oloo through senior counsel James Orengo also wants the court to prohibit future searches and seizures by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission without order granted by the High Court and without hearing him.
“I urge the court to stop my prosecution based on the search and seizure orders made by a subordinate court or recommendations by EACC to DPP,” says Oloo.
Further, the speaker wants High Court Anti corruption division to issue orders requiring the commission to return all documents including cheque books, log books , reports, title documents , equipment, firearms , ammunition and various articles seized from his residences in Syokimau, Machakos County and Mamboleo in Kisumu on June 4,2019.
This is after EACC on May 29 this year obtained orders from Milimani Chief Magistrate Courts for search and seizure warrant against Onyango Oloo.
“My right of privacy was infringed by the commission when they searched my houses or property and going ahead to seize information relating to my family or private affair and the privacy of my communications or correspondence’, says the speaker.
EACC is said to be investigating Oloo over the loss of millions of shillings used for the construction of Kisumu Lake Basin Development Authority mall.
He says that he is not aware of the on going investigations being conducted against him and has not been afforded the right or opportunity to confront the allegations against him.
Oloo adds that the magistrate court irrationally and unreasonably gave an in permissibly overboard authorization of search and seizure with a single sweeping blanket warrant that enabled the commission to carry out simultaneous and multiple areas of search and seizure.
“The warrant did not properly limit and confine the scope of the search and in essence it did not set a boundary to what could be seized”, reads the court papers.
He claim lack of limiting language in the warrant created a room for abuse and over reach particularly when the offence or crime prompting the investigations and the need for search and seizure and focus of the search were not set out or disclosed.
He further says that the commission has disobeyed the orders of the subordinate court by not returning with promptitude the warrant together with an endorsement certifying what the commission has done under the warrant upon execution and giving a full account and inventory of what was seized to the court.
In a supporting affidavit, Oloo says that on June 4,2019 EACC officers and police raided his Syokimau residence at 5.00 am and carried out an extensive search in his house and compound and seized several documents including title deeds , certificate of incorporation and memorandum , firearms and ammunition.
Inventory was prepared at about 11 a.m in the morning and was signed variously persons including his son, cousin and EACC officers who seized his property.
