A senior official at the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) has been arrested in connection with a medical insurance tender fraud worth Ksh 40.5 million.
In an update on Wednesday, November 27, the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) said it arrested KMA Head of Human Resource & Administration Henry Mwasaru over allegations of corruption in the tender for the provision of staff medical cover.
The graft watchdog stated that Mwasaru was arrested in an operation which also targeted two insurance brokers believed to have participated in the scam.
"Mwasaru, who serves as the Assistant Director in charge of HRM at KMA is accused of colluding with his counterpart Head of Supply Chain Management Ms. Bevaline Lundu at KMA to fraudulently award the medical insurance tender to an insurance agency outside the law," EACC said.
EACC said investigations began in September after getting a complaint indicating that KMA officials had corruptly awarded the tender.
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"The operation, which was pursuant to court orders, yielded valuable evidentiary material that will support the ongoing investigation. Investigations commenced upon receipt of a complaint on 30th September 2024 that the KMA officials had corruptly and irregularly awarded the tender," the commission added.
To prevent such cases in future, EACC said it has intensified focus on procurement of staff medical insurance cover in public institutions.
"The Commission has intensified focus on procurement of staff medical insurance cover in public institutions, which some officials use as a conduit for embezzlement of public funds through bid rigging and kickbacks," EACC concluded.
This comes a week after two suspects were arrested for attempting to extort Ksh 2 million from a Director General of a State Corporation.
In an update on Wednesday, November 20, the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) said Francis Onyango and Abigail Janai demanded the money to drop a petition in court over alleged funds embezzlement at the State Corporation.
"Following receipt of the complaint, the Commission mounted an operation on Friday leading to the arrest of the two suspects at a Nairobi Restaurant after corruptly receiving Ksh1.7 million being part of the Ksh2 million they had demanded," EACC said.
According to the commission, the two suspects are part of a growing number of individuals who file petitions against government officials in court and then demand bribes in order to withdraw the cases.
"The two are believed to be part of a growing number of litigious individuals in the country posing as public-spirited citizens and passionate advocates for good governance who file petitions against Government officials in Court and then seek huge bribes in order to withdraw the cases," EACC added.
