Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakango was on Tuesday, November 5, arrested in Mombasa County.
Nyakango was arrested in connection with charges including conspiracy to defraud contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code, operating a Sacco without a Licence Contrary to Section 24 as read with Section 66 of the Sacco Societies Act, 2008, forgery and uttering a false document c/s 353 of the Penal Code.
According to the charge sheet, the complaint was filed back in 2016 before she became the Controller of Budget. She was accused of the above-mentioned charges with 10 other individuals.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations received a nod to arrest the suspects after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions approved the charges on November 30.
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She is expected to be presented in court to answer to charges levelled against her. It is however not yet clear if the other co-accused were arrested during the Tuesday raid.
Nyakango ascended into office in June 2020 and remained firm in exposing various irregularities within different government organizations.
Recently she ignited a storm in the country when she told the the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) that her salary was budgeted three times what she is paid.
"Exaggerations are in the national treasury and let me just give one example, when I was doing the budget for consolidated funds services, this is where my salary is paid from, I found out my salary was budgeted at three times what I'm paid," Nyakang’o told the committee which was co-chaired by Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Leader of the Majority Kimani Ichung'wah.
"I'm the only state officer in my institution, so there is nothing like confusion there, I'm all alone. I asked why the budget is showing three times what my annual salary is, and it was like that for all state officers. I have not received an explanation to date," she added.
Nyakango was also bold to expose the fraudulent transfer of money a few days before the August 2022 polls.
