The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested the Chairperson of the Consortium of Civil Societies in Kenya Peter Odhiambo Agoro over ongoing investigations into claims of extortion.
The Commission is investigating allegations that the Chief Executive Officer of a State Corporation was a victim of extortion.
Agoro was escorted to the EACC Integrity Centre Police Station and was later released on bail, EACC said.
EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi confirmed the arrest and said a Parastatal CEO reached out to the Commission to complain.
According to EACC, the CEO was asked for Sh3 million which was to serve as an inducement and facilitation fee so as not to pursue and publicize accusations of procurement malpractices against the CEO.
Following the notification, Ngumbi said EACC laid a trap on Tuesday morning leading to the arrest.
EACC claimed their trap first saw an earlier demand of Sh3m reduced to Sh2m.
It was during the down payment of Sh1.5 million that Ngumbi says the EACC pounded on the suspect and arrested him.
However, speaking after the release, his lawyer said his client was being victimised for having crucial information against a senior state official who he claimed was at the heart of his woes.
"These allegations were not proven. They have not investigated anything. He has been released unconditionally. This means that there was nothing they were investigating in the first place," he said.
"This is a whistleblower and the treatment of such a whistleblower appears to be well crafted to silence anyone who will have crucial information."
Agoro dismissed the extortion allegations against him saying he was being targeted for being in the frontline in the war against corruption.
He said he was ready to face his accusers in court and even dared them to table their evidence.
"You can see I have not been charged. The only objective they wanted was to malign my name and silence me. But I can confirm to them that not even death itself will silence my resolve to fight for a corruption-free country," he said.
"We don't want to tolerate corruption. Even if it is me, I should arraigned and charged. All processes of the law must be followed. This antics of creating drama out of nothing just to silence actors of civil society and malign my name will fail."
