Petition filed to challenge appointment of CS Oparanya

Nairobi, 

Tuesday, 13 August, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

A petition has been filed to challenge the appointment of Cooperatives & MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya. 

The Petitioner, Fredrick Mulaa, a concerned citizen, has filed a petition at the anti-corruption division of the High Court to challenge the appointment of the CS over what he described as an appointment made against public interest. 

“Consequently, the 1st interested party’s (Mr Oparanya) nomination to the position of a Cabinet secretary disregards the relevant material that is vital to the legislative and constitutional purpose of integrity which ought to have been taken into account during the nomination,” reads part of the petition.

The petitioner argues that the Director of Public Prosecution's decision to drop corruption charges against the CS was not only illegal but also compromised the principles of transparency, accountability, and Integrity. 

Mulaa contends that the charges against Oparanya were grounded on solid evidence and that the DPP's reversal was influenced by political considerations rather than the public interest.

In addition, he states that the decision not to charge the Cooperatives CS violates the DPP’s guidelines since the investigative agency was not consulted.

This petition dates back to when EACC recommended the prosecution of Oparanya for allegedly irregularly receiving a benefit of Ksh56.7 million from a contractor, hired by the Kakamega County government.

However, the CS later defended himself saying the money wired to his account was a loan granted to him by one of the contractors’.

The former Kakamega Governor is among the 19 CS who were recently appointed in President William Ruto's broad-based government approach. 

On Monday, CS Oparanya threatened to resign from the position if the Government Ignored his advice. 

The CS stated that he had listened to the young people complaining of unemployment and maintained that he would offer solutions to that.