NAIROBI: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has petitioned the High Court to extend the order freezing assets worth Sh400 million belonging to a senior Nairobi County official facing corruption charges.
EACC wants the court to grant the application to extend by six months the freeze on suspended County Council Finance Officer Jimmy Kiamba's assets that the anti-graft body claims were acquired fraudulently.
EACC lawyer David Ruto stated the assets need to be preserved as they were acquired in a corrupt manner.
High Court Judge Msagha Mbogholi heard that the prayers on extension were based on a forensic analysis.
"It is in the public interest that the assets be preserved until the matter is heard and determined. Wrongdoers should not enjoy what they have acquired corruptly," Ruto said.
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The anti-graft body has accused Kiamba of fraudulent transactions, questioning the source of his Sh400 million assets yet his known source of income is a gross monthly salary of Sh85,000.
However, Kiamba has opposed an application by EACC seeking to freeze his assets.
He argued in court that the suit filed by EACC was malicious due to the insinuations that the property was acquired fraudulently.
Kiamba, through his lawyer Philip Nyachoti, stated that they were yet to be served by the anti-corruption commission with the first order that was issued in November 11, last year.
However, EACC urged the court to grant an extension of six months to continue freezing the assets.
The former official, who served the Nairobi County as the chief finance officer, was suspended after suspicion of acquiring the wealth in unscrupulous means between January and November last year.
The judge will rule of the application to extend the order on June 25.
Kiamba is accused of stealing from public coffers to buy a house in Kileleshwa, four plots in Machakos and Mavoko, four apartments in Kilimani and two maisonettes in South C.
Kiamba has since tried to get the court to lift the order freezing his accounts saying that he is struggling to survive on a daily basis.
Justice Mbogholi dismissed his objections to having the accounts held at a local bank frozen.
EACC have said that within 11 months, Kiamba's two accounts at CFC Stanbic have transacted over Sh400 million.
