Kenya Power CEO surrenders over alleged graft

The CEO of Kenya’s monopoly power distributor handed himself over to authorities investigating corruption allegations.

The probe into alleged graft at the state-owned company forms part of a widening crackdown ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018.

His administration is seeking to improve controls over public funds to help finance June’s record budget.

Kenya Power & Lighting CEO Ken Tarus surrendered at the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Sunday after a warrant was issued for his arrest, it said. He was being held at Muthaiga police station in Nairobi, it said.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution on Saturday ordered the arrest of several senior staff at Kenya Power after investigations into various tenders at the company.

Detectives had already detained former Kenya Power CEO Ben Chumo and two other officials “on suspicion of committing offenses of economic crime”, the office said.

Tarus, Chumo and nine senior Kenya Power managers denied more than six charges of economic crimes, abuse of office and conspiracy to defeat justice at a Nairobi court on Monday, Daily Nation newspaper reported on Twitter.

Kenya Power shares fell 0.8% to 6.50 shillings, the lowest in a month. “Expect short-term shocks on price due to this news,” Gerald Muriuki, an analyst at Genghis Capital in Nairobi, said.

The utility’s board fired Tarus, Nairobi-based K24 Television reported on Twitter, without saying how it obtained the information. An acting MD would be named on Monday, chairman Mahboub Maalim said in a text message in response to questions from media.