The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) CEO, Twalib Mbarak, has sounded a warning on a plot by some of the county governors and public officials to loot public coffers in the name of preparations for El Nino rains.

Mbarak, who spoke on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, said the commission had gathered intelligence that some counties and national government officials were already devising plans to divert public funds meant for mitigation measures for the anticipated El Nino rains.

He cautioned that corrupt individuals tend to seize opportunities brought about by calamities to enrich themselves regardless of the consequence it may pose to the larger public.

According to the EACC boss, Kenyans should not be shocked to see graft scandals sprouting shortly after the El Nino rains expected in October.

 “There’s El Nino coming in and we have got intelligence and you will be shocked that some counties and some institutions within the national government have now seen an opportunity to eat,” he said.

“People are coming up with the so-called mitigation plans to counter address El Nino. It sounds very good when you are reading but we have information …Don’t be shocked that soon you may see scandals coming at the expense of the people”

While citing past cases of the infamous KEMSA scandal that came about during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mbarak noted that the commission often experiences difficulty when amassing evidence to prosecute such cases.

In one instance, he said that EACC was unable to prosecute a graft case involving a governor who used sub-standard materials to construct a murram road prior to the rainy seasons.

He said the lawyers of the said governor, in their defence, told the EACC investigators that repairs were done but it was the rains which washed the roads away, therefore the commission had no evidence to prove its case.

“There was a case in one county where we got information that the governor and some public officials in that county were just dropping some few tracks of murram purporting to have made the road passable,” he explained.

“When we sent our investigators, they told us that we did repair these roads but unfortunately everything was washed away by the rains. Our lawyers said you couldn’t prosecute the case because of evidence.”

The Kenya Meteorological Department last month warned of a 99 per cent likelihood of El Niño this year beginning in September and going on until January.

Following the announcement, most counties have already laid out mitigation plans in readiness for the heavy downpours.