Daniel Manduku: Is KPA MD being held at secret location after Monday arrest?

Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Daniel Manduku, who was arrested over alleged corruption Monday is yet to be seen by anyone, including his family and lawyers.

A family member has told Kurunzi Manduku’s location is unknown after he was arrested at the Ministry of Transport headquarters and taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations base on Kiambu Road.

One of his lawyers, Nelson Havi, the recently-elected president of the Law Society of Kenya had not known Manduku’s whereabouts by the time of publication of this article.

“He is being held incommunicado and not even his lawyers have been allowed to see him because we are not being told where he is being detained,” said the family member on contain of anonymity.

DCI said they had arrested Manduku over transactions surrounding the acquisition, gazettement and payments for the Nairobi Inland Container Terminal as a KPA peripheral facility and would produce him to court Tuesday morning.

The charge sheet seen by Kurunzi suggests Manduku, appointed to the helm of the ports parastatal in December 2018 will face upto 11 counts, among them abuse of office and neglect of public duty, among other charges.

According to the family source, they are now worried because they do not understand why his location is being kept secret.

“His security and safety is also a major concern for us and we are asking the DCI to tell us the police station he is being kept.”

In the past, Manduku has maintained he is innocent, terming the probe launched in June 2019 as a routine audit of public institutions by government agencies tasked with ensuring there is proper functioning and prudent use of public resources.

The family source added: “He has been cooperative with the process and is determined to go through the judicial process of vindicating him legally.”

Kurunzi maintains its stance that the graft allegations against Manduku may be part of a vicious fight by tenderpreneurship cartels that want him out because of his stance on procurement procedures at the port but only time will tell.