Kakamega County governor Wycliffe Oparanya is yet again on EACC radar over his newly acquired multi-million hotel in Kisumu.
According to a local daily, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating the Council of Governors chairman over acquisition of Sh250 million Kisumu hotel.
An EACC report claims that Oparanya bought St John Manor hotel “using public funds believed to have been embezzled from the county government of Kakamega.”
St John’s Manor hotel is a three-star star facility located along the Nerhu Road in Kisumu town.
It borders the lucrative Kisumu Impala Sanctuary and the exclusive Kisumu Yatch Club.
The hotel is the preferred choice for nearly all governors from the Lake Basin Region when holding meetings in Kisumu and costs between Sh6,000-Sh9000 a room per night.
According to the information on its website, the hotel features a swimming pool, fully air-conditioned rooms, a private balcony, laundry services, and airport pickup services.
However, Oparanya on Sunday termed the EACC probe a waste of time saying he neither owns the hotel nor does he have any interest in the facility.
“I don’t own that hotel and I have never owned it. If they want to investigate, let them go and do so,” Oparanya told the local daily in a telephone interview.
He went on: “There is nothing wrong with me owning a hotel. Even if I owned it, I would gladly say so. What is wrong with owning a hotel?”
Oparanya has been hailed for his impressive development record in Kakamega and the anti-corruption purge would be an anti-climax in his enviable career.
