Detectives from the anti-graft agency on Monday rounded up 25 ward representatives from the Trans Nzoia County Assembly in a raid that saw other MCAs and staff escape arrest.

The detectives were acting on orders from Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to have the ward reps arrested over embezzlement of funds and abuse of office.
The detectives said among those who are currently at large are two MCAs, assembly Speaker David Sifuna, Clerk Aineah Indakwa and other staff members, with some said to have escaped to Uganda.

Among the charges they are facing is the alleged embezzlement of about Sh1.7 million, with each MCA said to have been paid about Sh47,000 to attend the burial of a colleague of theirs who died in 2014.
Interrogations have been going on since the death of then Matumbei MCA Ronald Matongolo in September 2014, when the MCAs and the assembly’s administration allocated themselves the money.

They have all been taken to Eldoret (anti-corruption court) to face graft charges,” said a detective with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), who spoke on condition of anonymity owing to his rank._
Top security chiefs in the region, including the county commissioner and police bosses, kept off as eager locals and journalists jammed the Kitale Police Station in search of information on the arrests.
The EACC is currently investigating allegations of nepotism in the assembly, with more than 43 employees said to be related to several ward representatives, denying locals fair employment opportunities.
There is also a petition filed by three locals at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Kisumu challenging the hiring practices of the assembly’s public service board.
Lobby groups in the region have been piling pressure on the MCAs to return extra money they awarded themselves in sitting allowances after being implicated in a report by the Controller of Budget.
According to the report, Trans Nzoia MCAs earned an average of Sh177,849 per month in the first quarter of the 2015/2016 financial year, way above the ceiling recommended by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

 Richard Lusweti, chairman of the area NGO Council’s Regulatory Committee.