Junior Govt Employee Whose Ksh21M Frozen By EACC Was Girlfriend's Dowry
Daniel Munywoki Wambua had petitioned the court to unfreeze the funds so that he can secure them for payment of dowry to marry his future wife.
Marvin Chege 
A junior employee attached to Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) on Thursday, August 17 claimed that the Ksh21 million frozen by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) was meant for his fiancée's dowry.
Daniel Munywoki Wambua had petitioned the court to unfreeze the funds so that he can secure them for payment of dowry to marry his future wife.
Through his lawyer, Danstan Omari, Wambua claimed that EACC had incorrectly flagged his account which was set up specifically for dowry payments and to which his family and friends had contributed.
He added that he was compelled by tradition to fulfil his dowry payment promise and has yet to do so despite the celebration because of the respondent's false claim that the dowry payment account is a proceed of crime.
EACC offices at Integrity Centre in Nairobi. /FILE
“Unless this honourable court intervenes and hears the applicant on merit, there is a likelihood that the Applicant’s rights under Article 45, 50 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 will be limited to his grave prejudice," he lamented through Omari.
Wambua added that there were no reasonable grounds to place a red flag on his assets, adding that he is able to defend how he acquired them legally.
“The amount in the Daniel Wambua Dowry Payment Account was specifically for the purpose of collecting funds from friends and well-wishes for the purposes of Dowry payment for my intended marriage to my wife of choice,” court papers read.
Wambua also argued that he is well-known in his community, hence being trusted with the huge amount of money as a contribution towards the payment of his dowry. Furthermore, he also belongs to a WhatsApp group with contribution lists showing how much each person contributed to the wedding.
According to Wambua, the court's orders forced him to stop the dowry ceremony without any justification, which embarrassed him in front of his future in-laws.
He also refuted the EACC's claim that he receives a monthly salary of Ksh55,000 by presenting his most recent payslip in court, which claims that he receives Ksh170,000 per month.
EACC on Thursday, August 10 obtained preservation orders from the High Court freezing the Ksh21.2 million amassed in four months by Wambua, reasonably suspecting him to have acquired and accumulated illicit wealth way beyond his known legitimate sources of income through embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, bribery, and abuse of office.
The High Court granted the preservation orders to ensure that the money is not dissipated, transferred, or withdrawn thereby rendering the intended recovery suit nugatory.
The Commission’s strategy for recovery of unexplained wealth or corruptly acquired assets is aimed at extinguishing the motivation for corrupt conduct and ensuring that the corrupt are not allowed to enjoy their loot.
In the last 5 years, EACC revealed that it had recovered and returned to the public stolen assets worth Ksh23.84 billion and averted a loss of Ksh34.5 billion in public funds through the disruption of corruption networks and ongoing transactions.
Currently, recovery cases for assets worth over Ksh42 billion are going on in various courts across the country.
