As long as she’s not a public servant: Sen. Kang’ata defends student ,21, reportedly gifted Ksh.102M by Belgian lover

Felesta Njoroge, a student at The Nairobi Technical Training Institute hit the headlines last Friday after the agency released an affidavit stating that it is seeking to freeze her bank account for concerns that the cash could be proceeds of crime.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday, Senator Kang’ata condemned the move, saying as long as she is not a civil servant her right to privacy needs to be upheld.

“The whole endeavour of the government to take that money from the girl is wrong, as long as she is not a public servant. If she were a public servant or a proxy to a public servant, I would support that. These requirements of disclosure need to be there but they should relate to public employees and their proxies,” stated Kang’ata.

He further called for the arrest of the Treasury, CBK, and The Assets Recovery Agency for exposing the student’s private information to the public.

“The heads of Treasury, CBK and The Assets Recovery Agency need to be arrested. Kenya is not a socialist or a communist country. The right to privacy when it comes to private money is something that needs to be upheld,” he said.

The senator further claimed that the insistence of the government to monitor every detail of its private citizens money was derailing economic development and driving away investors.

“The idea of the government wanting to get money from private citizens on the basis of all these things one needs to do is making Kenya become non-friendly to investors… we are coming up with laws which negate economic development,” added Kang’ata.

According to the Agency, Ms. Njoroge’s Co-operative Bank account was opened on August 2, 2021 and the cash wired in four transactions within three days.

The first deposit of Ksh.25,803,756 was made on August 4, 2021, after which Ksh. 25,803,756 was wired the next day. On August 6, two separate transactions of Ksh.25,242,756 and Ksh. 25,579,356 were made to the account. The account held no cash before the suspicious transactions were made.

The Assets Agency also claimed that they issued summons to Ms. Njoroge on October 18, 2021, to shed light on the transactions, only for her advocates to write back a day later saying the summons were vague and had no legal grounds.

Ms. Njoroge has maintained that the money was a gift from her Belgian boyfriend to do with it as she pleases.

She left the country in October and her lawyers have since gone mum on when she is expected back in the country. 

The agency on Friday stated that it wants the account frozen urgently to allow for investigations, expressing fears the account could be emptied if no action is taken.