IGRTC CEO Peter Leley Battles Sh180M Fraud Claim

The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) CEO Peter Leley and Monica Wambua the committee’s assistant director are seeking to struck out a petition by Activist Okiya Omtatah over Sh 180M public funds loss claims.

In affidavit filed in court by their lawyer Danstan Omari,Leley says that Omtatah sued him in his personal capacity and yet he has been working in official capacity.

The CEO says that he has been wrongfully joined as a party to that suit.

“The pleadings by the activist contravene the provisions of the constitution that a public officer shall not be discriminated for having performed functions of the office in accordance with the constitution of Kenya,2010 or any other law,”added Omari.

Omari terms an application by Omtatah as an abuse of the office.

Omtatah is said to have instituted a suit against Leley on January 14,2022 and sued him in his personal capacity instead of his official capacity.

He says that that petition by Omtatah did not disclose any proof of alleged illegal transfer of public funds by Leley as he claims.

“In that petition the activist attached a letter as evidence of a conspiracy to defraud public funds against the law,”added Omari.

He added that there is no correlation of the letter and the loss of Sh 180M and the allegations are just mere claims without any fact.

He says that application is a waste of court process and should be dismissed.

In the application,Omtatah is seeking an order freezing a bank account operated by Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC)

The activist argues that the account, which is held at Stanbic Bank is a personal account being used to handle public funds, an act which is unlawful.

In a certificate of urgency, the petitioner wants the court to freeze the operations of the account, pending the determination of the petition.

He also wants the court to direct the Auditor General to conduct a forensic audit on all accounts operated by IGRTC, showing the flow of money to and from the said account allegedly held by the Committee’s assistant director.

The activist has named the committee’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Leley, saying he directed public funds to be channeled through a private account and Ms Monica Wambua, the committee’s assistant director, for handling public funds using her private bank account.

According to him, the decision to use a personal account to handle public funds is both unlawful and unconstitutional, therefore, invalid.

“There was no public participation in the decision to use the personal account to handle the Committee’s funds and delaying the case might render the petition useless as the funds might be transferred or spent,” Omtata states in his court documents.

The court further heard that funds in the said account are exposed since the account is not subject to checks and balances in law, which govern public accounts to safeguard public money.