Kisumu city manager fights back, faults EACC for persistent harassment

Kisumu City manager Abala Wanga is putting on a brave face as he seeks to clear his name against allegations of fraud and forgery levelled against him by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The civil servant who has been at the center of the implementation of the transformation of Kisumu city alongside his boss, Governor Anyang Nyong’o, believes his woes are politically instigated.

He believes the anti-graft agency has been weaponised to frustrate him, with the agency keen on humiliating him through public summons and arrests before he was rescued by the courts after filing an anticipatory bail.

Yesterday, Wanga claimed he was mistreated by the EACC and has been a subject of persistent harassment by the anti-graft agency.

“I am surprised how EACC has handled me. They were always in my office, and I have always cooperated with them during their investigations. I was shocked when they summoned me on social media past 5 p.m.,” he says.

Wanga believes his woes are connected to his political ambitions and has accused EACC of harassing him and humiliating him in public.

At one point, he claimed, EACC sleuths attempted to drag him out of a sauna with only a towel.

According to Wanga, his treatment by the agency was discriminatory, and he wondered the reasons the anti-graft agency issued their summons over alleged graft on social media.

The man at the helm of the city department believes his woes are politically instigated and is embedded in the succession politics in Kisumu and his own political ambitions in Gem.

Among the accusations he is facing are claims of facilitating a female who is not an employee of the county to a trip to Lagos, Nigeria. Wanga described the claims as baseless and false.

“It is true I went to Lagos on an official trip, but how EACC has handled me puzzles me. I have parents, I am a father, and it is unfortunate how EACC posted information they knew was false on social media,” he said.

The city manager also dismissed claims that he forged his academic papers, saying that his records are straight and available for scrutiny.

“EACC just wanted to embarrass me. My records are straight in all levels from Primary school to High school to Kenya Medical Training college and to university,” he said.

Wanga’s claims come at a time when activists and civil societies have also accused the anti-graft agency of morphing into a weapon for political expediency.

About two months ago, a section of residents of Trans Nzoia protested what they described as legal harassment of Governor George Natembeya by the anti-graft agency.

They cited delayed court cases and strategic extensions, describing what they believe to be a deliberate attempt to paint guilt through process rather than through facts. 

On Friday, a section of residents of Kisumu also protested over Wanga’s predicaments and claimed he has been working diligently, claiming his woes are connected to succession politics in Kisumu.