Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa says he will be represented by his lawyer at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) offices today in relation to a summon issued to him.
Barasa was required to appear at the Integrity offices in Nairobi today for statement recording with regard to allegations of bribery said to have been made against him.
EACC said in a letter dated August 21 that this is the second time they are summoning the MP after he snubbed an earlier call.
"The Commission accords you a second opportunity to come and respond to the allegations of bribery made against you. 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 am," a letter from EACC reads.
But, according to Barasa the matter in question is purely a civil matter and not criminal.
“This is to bring to your attention that I will not honor the summons as this is purely abuse of the mandate of the commission...I will instead send you a lawyer,” a letter he has addressed to EACC CEO reads in part.
He explained that in the first summon he had been asked to appear to facilitate the commission in its investigations for failure to honour financial obligations.
“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 said.
The commission, he noted, 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.
He stated that the deposit of Sh2 million to his cooperative bank account was a soft loan from a politician who unsuccessfully ran for gubernatorial seat.
“It is clear from 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 said.
The said matter was reported to DCI Karen and was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction since this is purely a civil matter, he added.
