EACC arrests fake NIS officer in Sh15m Vihiga ghost school project

A man in handcuffs. [Photo/Courtesy]

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested a man who posed as a senior National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer to swindle a construction firm out of Sh1.4 million through a fabricated Sh15 million school project in Vihiga County.

Joel Wanyama Simiyu falsely presented himself as an NIS officer attached to the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Board and convinced a contractor to undertake a non-existent project at Kaptis Primary Special School in Hamisi Sub-County.

To give the scheme credibility, Simiyu allegedly staged a fake project handover using forged contract documents and introduced an accomplice posing as an engineer to push through unauthorised project variations.

The contractor paid about Sh1.4 million in purported facilitation fees before proceeding with construction.

The fraud unravelled when the firm approached Hamisi NG-CDF seeking payment, only to discover no such project had ever been approved.

Simiyu later resurfaced and demanded a Sh20,000 bribe, claiming he would facilitate payment processing. EACC officers arrested him as he received the money.

He was booked at Kisumu Central Police Station and released on Sh20,000 cash bail pending further investigations.

The commission said efforts to identify and prosecute accomplices are ongoing.

EACC urged stakeholders to verify all procurement processes through official government channels.