Nakuru governor aspirant Evans Kimori confronted with accountability questions following donations controversy

During last weekend's Linda Mwanachi tour in Nakuru, leaders and well-wishers opened their hearts and, key to note, their wallets, for the family of Brian Odhiambo, the fisherman who disappeared on January 18, 2025, after being forcibly taken by KWS officers at Lake Nakuru National Park.

Odhiambo's family has endured over a year of anguish, unanswered questions, and an ongoing court case that has heard witnesses testify that the young man was last seen motionless in a KWS vehicle.

The donated funds were the least a sympathetic public could offer.

However, as the session was being recorded live by the media and it was known that at least three individuals contributed a combined Sh 150,000, with other donations streaming in, the Odhiambo family only received Sh 60,000, at first.

The rest? Gone with the Wind and unaccounted for. Swallowed somewhere between the collection point and the delivery.

And standing uncomfortably at the center of this storm is Eng. Evans Kimori- a public figure and man currently eyeing the Nakuru gubernatorial seat.

When civil society leaders raised the alarm and demanded answers, Kimori gave an interview that was equal parts damage control and a political theatre where he gave another Sh 50,000 to the family.

“I have decided to take money from my own pocket to make it up to the family and fire those people of his who held that money, and I have already dismissed them,” he said in an interview with a digital outlet.

This could be, in other words, interpreted as blame the staff, sack them, move on.

For a man aspiring to lead a county, this is a remarkable defense, as his own inner circle, entrusted with handling donation money for a grieving family, helped themselves.

Contradictorily, it is alleged that one of his workers later posted in a Facebook comment section that total collections had reached Sh 540,000, which begs the question where it all went aside from the money given to the family.

“Give me time, my car has CCTV that I need to verify,” he said, and eventually, under sustained pressure, Kimori did step forward with something resembling accountability.

“As leaders who take responsibility for anything they have done, I am one of them. I take full responsibility and let this not be politicized.”

He apologized as he asked for patience and wrapped it in the language of honor and the dignity of Nakuru's leaders.

Here is the uncomfortable question Nakuru residents must sit with: is it Eng. Evans Kimori cannot guarantee that donations pooled for Brian Odhiambo's family - money collected in full public view, during a tour he was part of - reach their destination intact. What exactly will happen when he is managing a county budget running into billions?

Odhiambo's family has already been robbed once of a husband, a son, a father by the very state machinery meant to protect him. The funds raised in his name were a small act of collective decency.

That even that could not be protected speaks volumes.

Well, it isn't just where the money went but whether the man who lost track of it deserves to be trusted with yours.