BY IRENE ONYANGO .
A Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) accountant whose banks accounts were frozen over claims of corruption has pleaded with the High Court to lift the order saying the money was meant for dowry payment.
Daniel Munywoki Wambua wants the Anti-Corruption division of the High Court to suspend the order issued on August 10, 2023 and hear his side of the story.
EACC obtained orders freezing his bank accounts questioning alleged sudden wealth accumulation, which raised suspicion of embezzlement of public funds from KeRRA.
Wambua wants the court to vacate and or set-aside the temporary order prohibiting him from withdrawing or transferring the funds for six months.
“Unless this honorable court intervenes and hears the applicant on merit, there is a likelihood that the Applicant’s rights under Article 45 will be limited to his grave prejudice,” he pleads.
He was prohibited from withdrawing the millions his bank account held in Equity Bank Kenya Limited.
Through his lawyer Danstan Omari, Wambua argues that the anti-graft agency failed to disclose material information to the court. He said if the information was disclosed at the onset, the court would not have granted the orders sought.
He adds that the freeze has greatly prejudiced him yet he was not given the opportunity to give his side of the story.
Wambua said he is required by tradition to fulfill his promise of dowry payment and is yet to do so, and the celebration is in the offing only for the account to be frozen.
He has denied the allegations stating that EACC is speaking from uninformed perspective without knowledge of all the facts and that it’s misguiding the court to grant orders in their favour causing him great prejudice.
The accountant adds that the next court date issued pursuant to the orders of the court is a mention for directions slated 12th February 2023, which is too far and shall cause irreparable damages and prejudice him.
“The applicant wishes to set the record straight as the respondent is fishing for the vast orders against the applicant without any justifiable cause and the accounts frozen, one of them negligently cited by the respondent and misguided the court as account held at Equity Bank in his is actually Daniel Wambui Dowry payment Account number which was to run for a period of 4 months to complete its purpose,” says the accountant in his court documents.
Wambua further stated that the EACC had also misreported his net salary which is Sh 61,207 and not Sh 55,607 as stated before.
According to Wambua,the Sh 21Million that had caught the EACC’s attention was dowry payment that was contributed through a WhatsApp by over 950 friends and well wishes who were willing to assist in the traditional practice of dowry payment through an Equity paybill.
He further stated that the EACC had omitted the actual name of the bank account in which the Sh 21Million was found which was registered under Daniel Wambui Dowry Payment.
Omari, in the application stated that the action of the EACC have greatly prejudiced Wambua who has been subjected to adverse orders without the opportune right to be heard and even prompted him from paying dowry.
“EACC moves in and tell the court that this is money laundering but does not disclose the name of the account to be Daniel Wambua dowry payment prompting for the account to be frozen on 27th hindering Wambua from paying dowry and leaving question to the 950 people who had contributed.”
He also stated that Wambua has provided the bank statements showing where the dowry, hence he moved to court to vacate those orders expecting the court to hear them out and allow Wambua to pay his dowry.
Further, Omari said that as the lawyers for Wambua have been given instructions to pursue EACC to disbanded being that it’s an entity integrated by commission who’s mandate doesn’t include war on lovers.
Omari said Wambua is a serious farmer and generates an equivalent of Sh 2 million yearly, from his Matuu farm.
