NAIROBI, Kenya- The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has secured court orders forfeiting assets valued at Sh207.7 million linked to Andrew Biketi Musuya, a former accountant with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation and Trans Nzoia County Government.
The High Court’s Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division found that Musuya had not satisfactorily explained the gap between his wealth and known legitimate income.
Justice Rose Ougo delivered the judgment in a case filed by EACC in 2019.
The forfeited assets include properties in Mombasa and Bungoma valued by EACC at Sh150.2 million, bank and M-Pesa deposits totalling Sh53.5 million, and two vehicles valued at Sh4 million, the commission said.
The properties include two five-storey apartment blocks and a five-bedroom townhouse in Mtwapa, as well as seven undeveloped parcels.
The court ordered the forfeiture of several properties, a Toyota saloon registered to Musuya and a Toyota Harrier registered to an interested party.
It also ordered the forfeiture of bank deposits totalling Sh45.5 million and about Sh8 million in two M-Pesa accounts.
The court dismissed EACC’s claim over a Toyota Prado held by Wachenya Auto Garage, citing insufficient evidence to forfeit the garage’s ownership interest.
The judgment followed an investigation into assets and financial transactions between January 2013 and October 2018.
EACC told the court it had identified assets and funds worth Sh289.9 million, including land valued at Sh226.8 million, vehicles worth Sh9.6 million and bank and mobile-money deposits of Sh53.5 million.
The commission put Musuya’s known legitimate income during the period at about Sh5.8 million.
The court said EACC had met its initial burden by presenting evidence of wealth disproportionate to Musuya’s known income.
“Once that evidential threshold was crossed, the Respondent was required to provide a satisfactory explanation,” Justice Ougo said.
She added that the burden “was not discharged merely by identifying possible sources of income.”
Musuya offered explanations including farming, consultancy, loans and rental income, according to the judgment.
The court found the evidence did not adequately link those sources to the funds used to acquire or develop the assets in question.
The ruling was made under Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, which allows EACC to seek recovery of unexplained assets after giving a person an opportunity to account for them.
The court excluded one Bungoma parcel, finding it had been acquired in 2008, before the period under investigation.
The judgment set a maximum monetary liability of Sh284.1 million.
It directed that the value of forfeited assets and preserved funds be credited against that ceiling to prevent double recovery, and ordered the surrender of relevant title documents and vehicle logbooks.
