Court orders former Governor Mruttu's political advisor to pay Ksh.12.4M

According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the accused, Kimonge Geoffrey, is said to have fraudulently acquired the public funds by applying for imprest for fictitious activities while serving as Political Advisor.

Appearing before Voi Chief Magistrate Mildred Obura on Friday, Kimonge was found guilty of unjustly enriching himself with public funds contrary to the law.

He was, therefore, ordered to pay the government Ksh.12,458,990, together with interest at commercial rates from the date of acquisition until payment in full.

In the ruling welcomed by the EACC, the commission launched investigations into recovering lost public funds after receiving a complaint back in August 2020.

Reports indicated that the former Political Advisor had fraudulently acquired a total of Ksh.13,878,587 in the form of imprest purportedly for allowances of Members of the County Assembly Wards and staff in Taita Taveta.

EACC later learnt that the aforementioned imprest applied by Kimonge on diverse dates was fictitious, leading to the misappropriation of county funds.

The commission consequently filed a civil recovery suit in 2022 seeking various orders, including a declaration that the former Taita Taveta County employee illegally and fraudulently acquired the Ksh.13.8 million funds in breach of public trust and orders for payment lump sum together with interest