EACC arrests two insurance executives over KSh40m medical tender

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested two insurance company following investigation into an alleged KSh40 million medical tender in a government agency.
The commission, after securing a court order, conducted a search operation into the offices of the insurance company, during which the two senior company officials were arrested.
The two are said to have vital information that could help with the ongoing probe into the tender.
Pursuant to Court Orders issued by Mombasa Chief Magistrates Court, one of the officials was arrested after a search in his Nairobi residence and escorted to EACC Integrity Centre Offices for processing, while the other officer was arrested in Mombasa and was processed at EACC Mombasa offices.
The anti-graft agency said preliminary investigations indicated that the award of tender did not follow procurement regulations.
EACC Spokesman Eric Ngumbi, on Sunday, confirmed the raid and arrest, saying that the operation yielded valuable evidentiary material that will support the ongoing investigation.
The arrest of the two comes after a senior official at the State agency under probe was arrested over the same.
The official was arrested in an operation that also targeted two insurance brokers believed to have participated in the insurance fiasco.
According to the EACC, the official was apprehended in Naivasha where he had attended training, and was escorted to EACC offices in Nairobi.
After the search operation in their respective residential premises and homes, the three were taken to EACC offices in Nairobi and Mombasa, where they were interviewed and recorded statements.
They were later released pending finalisation of the probe.
EACC said the operation, which was pursuant to court orders, yielded valuable evidentiary material that will support the ongoing investigations and has intensified focus on procurement of staff medical insurance cover in public institutions, which some officials are now using as a conduit to mismanage public funds.
“The outcome of the ongoing investigation will inform the next course of action, which may include prosecution and recovery of any public funds fraudulently paid from public coffers,” Ngumbi said.