BY IRENE ONYANGO.
A Kenya Rural Roads (KeRRA) accountant whose three banks accounts were frozen over links to bribe will know next month whether the High Court will lift the order and allow him to access the funds and pay alleged dowry.
Justice Nixon Sifuna set the ruling for November 9 after Daniel Wambua Munywoki pleaded with the court to lift the order, arguing that he had subjected him to extreme hardship.
Munywoki allegedly received Sh 21 million into his accounts within 3 months, funds suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission opposed Munywoki’s application arguing that the official obtained the money through abuse of office, bribery and corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation of funds.
According to the Commission, investigations revealed that one of Munywoki’s accounts had more Sh 15 Million.
They also recovered Sh 700,000 in his house during a search.
EACC also suspects that Munywoki was using a proxy identified as James Kivuva to make the deposits.
Munywoki through his lawyer Danstan Omari stood his ground that his money was legit and obtained from friends and well-wishers towards dowry payment.
“The money raised is not only for dowry process but for the whole processes involved in dowry ceremony as well as a stepping stone for the newly wed to have a foundation to start life,” said Omari.
The court heard that the dowry account was opened in March 2023 and was to run for four months pending dowry payment.
Munywoki claimed that people contributed through Mpesa by forming a WhatsApp group consisting of over 957 people.
He furnished with hard copies of the bank statements, Mpesa number of the people who allegedly sent the money and how much each one contributed.
It is also alleged that some of the people who contributed over Sh 200,000 have sworn affidavits and none of them is a public servant.
According to Omari, there was also money constituted in cash which was given to Munywoki in batches.
“The same cash collections were banked into the dowry account the next day as a huge deposit,” he added.
Part of the cash is allegedly the Sh 1.912 Million deposited by Kivuva into his account and another Sh 700,000.
The court was also told that the respondent is a prominent farmer and part of the money came from his farming, savings and contributions from friends.
Omari argued that his client earns a salary of Sh 170,000 a opposed to the allegation by the commission that he earns a net salary of Sh 55,000.
He added that his client was unable to pay the said dowry after the EACC obtained orders to freeze his accounts.
Munywoki told the court that his dowry ceremony was to be held on 4th and 5th August 2023
However, the EACC claimed that Munywoki was in a position to withdraw the money and pay dowry on 4th August since the said accounts had not been frozen.
“The respondent had an opportunity to withdraw the money and pay dowry before the orders were sort,” said the EACC.
