Anthony Juma Opondo, a former legal officer at the Anti-graft Agency EACC is said to have tried to stop the investigations on tax evasion by Mwananchi Credit Limited. But is it the case?
On Monday, an anti-corruption court dismissed an application to stop his prosecution over alleged Sh15 million bribe.
Opondo had filed the application under a certificate of urgency seeking to stop his prosecution, arguing that he was apprehensive that EACC may arrest and charge him over an investigation which started in 2017 when he was the anti-graft agency’s legal officer.
Opondo was on May 5, 2017, summoned by the Director of Criminal Investigations over alleged solicitation of a Sh15 million bribe to “stop investigations about the tax evasion scandal by Mwananchi Credit Limited”.
He said despite doing all that was required of him, he finds himself in a never-ending investigation.
Opondo said that there is justifiable apprehension that the actions of the EACC and DPP may be calculated to embarrass, humiliate and destroy his career.
Opondo said he had received a dossier on April 27, 2017, from an informer about alleged tax evasion by Mwananchi Credit Limited.
“As an investigator and advocate, I conducted a preliminary investigation with a view to establishing whether the allegations warranted further investigations,” he said.
He filed a report with the commission on May 2, 2017 but he got in trouble two days later.
Opondo resigned on February 1, 2018, and secured employment with Cecil Miller & Associate. The employment was terminated on March 5, 2018, before he reported for work.
“Before I could report to work at the law firm, EACC and DPP maliciously made a report to my employer that I had a disciplinary case relating to integrity issues that might result to termination of my employment or face charges,” Opondo added.