Police in Kisumu have launched investigations to unearth the cause of a fire that razed down one of the offices at the County Treasury.
The fire which was reported on Sunday at around 4 pm at the office on 2nd floor of the New Nyanza Regional Headquarters building was contained by Kisumu fire brigade who rushed to the scene.
Confirming the incident, the Kisumu Deputy Governor, Dr. Mathew Owili said the cause of the fire has not been established adding that police have launched investigations into the matter.
The fire, he said destroyed four computers, two printers and two office chairs at the Integrated Financial Management Information System IFMIS office.
Operations at the busy office remained shut as police officers cordoned off the area to carry out investigations.
“Investigations in this matter will continue in earnest to unearth what or who might have caused the fire and the motive behind it,” said Dr. Owili.
The incident angered contractors who read foul play in the matter to further delay their payments running into millions of shillings.
The county treasury is also being investigated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over a number of irregularities.
According to the Chairman of the contractors, Maurice Onyango, the county government owed them Sh. 2.7 billion shillings.
“Some of us have been camping here since the year 2013 but nothing has been done to clear our payments even after the president issued a directive on the matter,” he said.
However, Dr. Owili assured the contractors that no document was lost in the inferno and the county government will do everything possible to clear the pending bills.
The incident, he said will not interfere with operations at the county treasury or any other department.
“I want to assure you that no document has been lost. The backup and server room are intact,” he said.
“The governor is concerned about the happenings and affirms that his administration will not stop at anything until the truth about this incident is brought to light,” he added.
By Chris Mahandara/Eva Tracy
