Barasa is accused of soliciting the money with the promise of influencing the award of government tenders to the unnamed businesswoman.
Kimilili Member of Parliament, Didmus Barasa on Sunday, August 25 revealed that he will not honour the summons issued by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)over allegations of defrauding a businesswoman of Ksh2 million.
Barasa is accused of soliciting the money with the promise of influencing the award of government tenders to the unnamed businesswoman.
In a statement released minutes after EACC communicated the summons, Barasa explained that the first summon had indicated that the reason for the summon was to facilitate the anti-corruption commission in its investigations for “failure to honour financial obligations.”
EACC offices at Integrity Centre in Nairobi. /FILE
However, the lawmaker claimed that EACC is abusing its mandate by altering the reason for the summons.
“I replied to your officer and indicated not to honour the said summons because the commission cannot be reduced into a debt collection agency,” he stated in part.
“The commission has since changed, backtracked on her reasons for earlier summons, and paraphrased the second summon to facilitate an investigation of bribery claims to coerce me to pay.”
Barasa went on to clarify that the deposit of Ksh2 million to his bank account was a soft loan from a fellow politician whom he claims had unsuccessfully run for governor in a county in Kenya on December 13, 2023.
“Its clear form of the documents that were forwarded to the bank to facilitate transfer clearly indicated soft loan; you can peruse them. Why I haven’t paid because of the dispute in the contractual conditions is none of your business,” he added.
“The said matter was reported to DCI Karen and was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction since this is purely a civil matter.”
In explaining why he won’t honour the summons, Barasa argued that EACC cannot invite him to interpret for them the reasons for the cash transfer, yet, according to him, the commission had studied the documents that supported the transfer of the funds because “while the wiring amount is more than $1M, you must provide support documents.”
Barasa did state that he would send a lawyer to represent him. EACC required the MP to appear before the commission on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
The anti-graft body had initially summoned the lawmaker to appear before the commission and record a statement on August 14, 2024. Barasa, however, did not show up.
In a letter dated August 21, 2024, the commission had warned that failure by the MP to show up would result in the inquiry proceeding to its conclusion without reference to him.
“The Commission hereby accords you a second opportunity to come and respond to the allegations of bribery made against you,” the EACC communicated in a statement.
“To this end, you are required to appear at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s offices at Integrity Centre, Nairobi on August 27, 2024, at 9:00 am.”
Kimilili MP, Didmus Barasa. /FILE