A Member of the Kisii County Assembly has been arrested in connection with a series of alleged scams involving the promise of overseas travel opportunities. Detectives maintained that several residents have so far come forward claiming they were defrauded.
The MCA was first arrested following complaints that he had allegedly taken money from people while promising to help them secure travel slots to Canada, opportunities that never materialized.
He was taken to Senior Principal Magistrate John Nyariki of the Kisii Law Courts on Wednesday, November 19. In this case, he is accused of obtaining Ksh180,000 from a woman between 2022 and 2023 with a promise of helping her travel out of the country. The MCA denied the charges.
He was released on a Ksh100,000 bail, but the prosecution objected to the release on grounds that more victims had since reported similar experiences. The prosecution said several residents claimed they had each lost hundreds of thousands of shillings in the same alleged scheme.
The prosecution further declared that MCA posed a flight risk and urged the court to set stringent terms for bail to protect ongoing investigations.
His lawyer countered the claims, stating that no supporting affidavits or evidence had been presented. He insisted that bail is a constitutional right and said MCA as an elected representative was easily traceable and had no reason to abscond.
But the MCA’s legal troubles did not stop there.
A moment after he walked out of the courtroom, DCI officers arrested him again this time over a different complaint filed by another resident who claims to have lost Ksh70,000 in a similar arrangement. Detectives said investigations into the new allegations are ongoing.
The case, which is still unfolding, has attracted attention in Kisii, with locals saying it reflects an increasing trend of travel-related scams that keep on targeting desperate job-seekers and families in the hope of opportunities abroad.
