What next for impeached Siaya DG William Oduol after Senate committe finds him guilty?
Senators are set to determine the fate of impeached Siaya Deputy Governor William Oduol after the 11-member special Senate Committee hearing his impeachment case found that two charges of the brought against him were substantiated.
The final report was presented to the Senate on June 26, 2023.
According to records in Nairobi News’ possession, the special committee investigated the allegations and charges against DG Oduol and found that it had been substantiated that he had grossly violated the Constitution and other laws on the allegation of interference with the procurement process through acts of bid-rigging.
On the aforementioned charge, DG Oduol had been accused of forcing the incurring of expenses of approximately Sh 18 million for which was used to renovate the interior and exterior of his office, purchase of furniture and office equipment including a Sh 1.2 million orthopedic chair for his personal use. He also bought a bookshelf worth Sh 567,700, a mahogany desk worth Sh 336,700, Sh 756,700 for five curved coffee tables with stools, Sh 2,844,000 on 12 executive high back orthopedic desk black leather chairs and Sh 910,000 on a 7-seater executive curved sofa among other expensive furniture.
These expenditures were allegedly not in the budget and therefore, not in the procurement plan. Invoices, technical inspection reports, letters from various county offices, appointment of tender opening and evaluation committee documents were provided to prove these allegations against Mr Oduol.
It was also substantiated that DG Oduol had abused his office and grossly misconducted himself on the allegation of misleading the public by giving false information. The instances provided to the Senate committee included his public utterances that public funds meant for the completion of the Siaya Stadium had ben reallocated. It was found that the allocation had been enhanced and not removed. He was also accused of misleading the public that there was discriminatory budgetary allocation to the disadvantage of Alego Usonga Constituency but it was found that this constituency was the highest beneficiary of the Development funding in the Supplementary Budget I for the financial year 2022/2023.
The Senate Committee also found that Mr Oduol had falsely claimed that former county secretary Joseph Ogutu had been forced to r4esign by Governor James Orengo, that there had been massive corruption in the procurement of seeds and that the bursary program was not being used to help needy children but to benefit some people’s relatives among other utterances.
Next, DG Oduol is set to appear before the Senate to defend himself against these two charges and then wait for the 47 Senators to vote on whether his impeachment will sail through or he will return back to Siaya County as Deputy Governor.
DG Oduol’s impeachment comes on the heels of a fall out between himself and Siaya Governor James Orengo. Oduol accused Orengo of colluding with junior county staff to steal over Sh 100 million; and once he became keen on investigating the matter and having it prosecuted, the tables were turned on him and various accusations brought against him.
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