Ex-Governor Wa Iria fails to raise Ksh.10M bail, to spend the night at Industrial Area Prison

According to an update from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Tuesday, Wa Iria, who was granted a KSh. 20 million bond and an alternative cash bail of KSh. 10 million, was unable to raise the funds. 

Wa Iria is among several others on the EACC radar for corruption-related charges. 

The charges against Iria, his wife Jane Waigwe Kimani, brother-in-law Solomon Mutura, Personal Assistant Peter Muturi Karanja, and others stem from media and publicity tenders awarded irregularly to a company linked to them, Top Image Consultants, at a cost of Kes.562 million in the fiscal years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016.

According to court documents, the directors of this company are Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia and David Maina Njeri, both close associates of the former Governor.

The papers also detail how the former governor and his wife benefited directly from the KSh.562 million paid by the Murangá County Government to Top Image Media Consultants Limited, whose directors are Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia and David Maina Njeri. 

According to investigators, a portion of the funds were sent to the Mwangi wa Iria foundation, while the remainder was used to repay Wairia's loan at CFC Stanbic. 

The investigation will also look into how Jane Waigwe Kimani (wife of Mwangi wa Iria) and Solomon Mutura (brother of Jane Waigwe), directors of Value View Limited, benefited from funds paid to Top Image Media Consultant for the purchase of prime land in Nairobi and Mweiga, as well as two (2) holiday homes in Nanyuki.

The EACC has since filed a civil suit in the High Court seeking to recover all public funds lost.