Former Sports Cabinet secretary Rashid Echesa is walking a tightrope after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) reportedly embarked on a probe into his possible links to money laundering activities.
Echesa, who was fired by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, is expected to shed more light on his links with Joseph Waswa, who is on police radar over the illegal business.
The CS was reportedly constantly communicating with Waswa, who was among the seven suspects arrested for impersonating President Uhuru Kenyatta and robbed tycoon Naushad Merali of Sh 10 million.
The other suspects were David Luganya, Gilbert Kirunja Isaac Wanyonyi, William Simiyu, Duncan Muchai and Anthony Wafula. Echesa also communicated with Joseph Munyao and Nancy Muthoni, who are also suspected to be behind the money laundering business.
The DCI is also trying to establish whether Echesa, who was launching endless attacks against ODM leader Raila Odinga before he was fired, visited the building where the fake currency was discovered in Ruiru.
The former CS has also been associated with Peter Longa, the Cameroonian who was deported over money laundry claims. Reports from the office of the DCI show that Echesa is likely to have been a close associate of Longa before he was sent back to his country on January 7, 2017.
The sacking of Echesa has caused jitters in Deputy President William Ruto’s camp as his allies claim that Odinga is engineering his downfall before 2022.