EACC exposes how county officials, governors' spouses misused billions of public funds

This is according to the latest quarterly report on investigations covering October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024. 

In the report, the commission filed 51 cases, of which 47 were forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for prosecution, two were filed for administrative action and the rest were filed for closure. 

In Nairobi, a procurement officer at the county government received Ksh.40 million from 14 companies between financial years 2017/18 and 2021/22. 

According to EACC, the Nairobi County government paid over Ksh.414 million to 36 companies during the stipulated period. 

Of these payments, 32 lacked supporting documents while the remaining four had vouchers containing falsified documents.

Following the transactions, the procurement officer and other public officers received over Ksh.66 million; proceeds which were used to purchase properties and motor vehicles. 

EACC also highlighted how the spouse of a former Kakamega Governor received Ksh.5 million as allowances for a trip to Dallas, United States of America that did not take place. 

Investigations by the commission revealed that the Personal Assistant to the spouse had generated the irregular payments which were approved by the County Secretary and paid by the Finance Department. 

In Kitui, the Chief of Staff was flagged for abusing Ksh.23 million that was meant for public participation forums within the county.

The commission also highlighted irregularities in Isiolo as the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) overpaid for work done during the construction of Isiolo Airport, totalling a loss of Ksh.32 million. 

In Bomet County, EACC flagged two irregular tenders for the construction of Water Supply and Sanitation Systems valued at Ksh.183 million and another contract variation on the quality of pipe material from steel to glass-reinforced plastic valued at Ksh.573 million. 

The Migori County Assembly was also on the spot for misusing Ksh.63 million in public funds between June 2014 and March 2015. Investigations revealed that the county officials received the funds as allowances for trainings that did not take place. 

In the report, over 15 cases from officials at the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) were highlighted for forgery of academic certificates to secure employment.