A major corruption scandal is engulfing the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) as a lobby group namely Kenya Ni Yetu urgently calls upon the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate one of its senior officials, Raphel Muigai Ikame, over allegations of orchestrating a sweeping county-looting scheme.
Mr. Ikame, an Audit Manager whose troubled past includes a multi-million-shilling bribery allegation, is accused of colluding with senior county finance officers to identify and exploit financial loopholes across several coastal devolved units.
The counties named in the scheme include Tana River, Kwale, TaitaTaveta, Kilifi, and Lamu.
With Kwale he is said to be colluding with some executive committee members among them finance executive member Sebe Bakari and chief officer finance Alex Onduko
Pattern of Impunity and ‘Favorable’ Audits
The lobby group’s outrage stems from Mr. Ikame’s alleged pattern of exploiting his influential position within the OAG.
Sources indicate that Ikame and his teams would allegedly examine and evaluate county financial systems not to ensure accountability, but to identify weaknesses for subsequent exploitation and looting.
Public records confirm that in 2018, Ikame was interdictedfollowing accusations of demanding a KSh 20 million bribe to manipulate audit findings for Kirinyaga County.
Court documents indicate he was accused of threatening to blacklist Kirinyaga contractors and suppliers if they did not pay.
“The matter was reportedly settled out of court, but insiders insist that it exposed deep weaknesses in the Auditor General’s internal accountability mechanisms.”
Despite the serious allegations, Ikame was later reinstated a move critics at the time labeled as “institutional impunity” that severely undermines public confidence in the integrity of state audits.
Link to Kilifi Ex-Finance CECM
The current crisis has deepened with the emergence of a highly controversial connection between Ikami and Kilifi County’s former County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance and Economic Planning, Yaye Shosi Ahmed.
Sources allege that the relationship between the two compromised the oversight of Kilifi’s finances. With Ikame’sauthority to clear audit reports and Ms. Shosi’s control over the county’s purse strings, the arrangement reportedly created a severe conflict of interest.
Insiders claim this provided a clear path for the manipulation of audit trails, the shielding of corrupt contracts, and the suppression of critical financial red flags.
Ms. Shosi recently resigned (or was reshuffled from) the Finance docket, a move that comes amidst broader controversy in the county, including public protests over alleged harassment.
Ikame’s long history of alleged corruption have derailed his career trajectory outside the OAG as well; he was reportedly shortlisted at position seven for a job at the Kiambu Public Service Board but was denied the opportunity after his “dirty corruption linen was revealed during the vetting.”
The EACC and DCI now face immense pressure to move swiftly to investigate the coastal lobby’s claims and end the alleged systematic looting being facilitated from the very office tasked with safeguarding public funds.
The lobby group is set to file a petition to remove him from office, a lifestyle audit be conducted, his assets and accounts frozen.
Ikame is said to be bragging and he alleges that he is untouchable since he has links with The Who in the government.
