Kimilili member of parliament (MP) Didmus Barasa has responded after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) summoned him over allegations of extorting Ksh2 million from a businesswoman.

In a statement dated August 22, 2024, Barasa explained that the money was a loan from the politician.

“I would like to bring to your attention that the deposit of Ksh 2,000,000 to my cooperative bank account was a soft loan from the said politician who unsuccessfully ran for governor in a county in Kenya on 13th December 2023.

“It’s clear form of the documents that were forwarded to the bank to facilitate transfer clearly indicated soft loan; you can peruse them.

“Why I haven’t paid because of the dispute in the contractual conditions is none of your business,” Barasa noted in a statement.

He added that the matter was reported to DCI Karen and was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction since this is purely a civil matter.

“This is therefore to bring to your attention that I will not honour the summons as this is purely abuse of the mandate of the commission. 

“You cannot invite me to interpret for you the reasons why the cash was transferred when you read the documents that supported the transfer of the funds because while the wiring amount is more than $1M, you must provide support documents,” he added.

The Kimilili MP noted that he will instead send a lawyer to appear on his behalf on the said date at the EACC.

This was after the Commission notified Barasa over bribery allegations made against him.

“The Commission accords you a second opportunity to come and respond to the allegations of bribery made against you.

“To this end, you are required to appear at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s offices at Integrity Centre, Nairobi on 27th August 2024 at 9:00 am,” read part of the EACC letter to Barasa, dated August 21, 2024.