9 Governors, Including Waititu, Obado, and Sonko, Face Ongoing Court Cases – EACC
Bishop David Oginde, the chairperson of the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, has revealed the extent of corruption within the various counties.
In a document titled “A Decade of Devolution: Notable Instances of Corruption in County Governments,” Bishop Oginde elaborated on the incidents of corruption that they have scrutinized within the past decade in various counties.
“The most prevalent malpractices in the counties include embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, procurement fraud, payroll fraud mainly through ghost workers, fraudulent pending bills and blatant disregard of laws relating to prudent management of public affairs,” Ogine said in his address in Mombasa.
Additionally, the Chair of EACC mentioned that they have successfully received and dealt with 10,543 complaints regarding corruption and inappropriate behavior concerning county administrations.
“Upon analysis, 7,310 reports were found to be within the mandate of the Commission and taken up for investigation, the reports outside the Commission’s mandate were referred to other agencies with the mandate to take action,” Oginde noted.
Government authorities have seized the assets of county officials through recovery procedures conducted by EACC, making them among the public officers affected.
Regarding the accusations of embezzlement and/or inappropriate use of public funds, Bishop Oginde mentioned that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) received a total of 2,994 reports related to this issue. The second highest number of reports was about irregularities in Public Procurement, with a count of 1,130.
There were 840 instances of Abuse of Office reported among county officials, with 747 cases of unethical conduct also documented.
Additional categories encompass bribery (578), deceptive procurement and divestment of governmental assets (315), clash of interests (220), undisclosed riches (198), deceit (126), mismanagement (126), violations of the penal code (17), and violation of entrusted duty (19).
Over a decade, Oginde stated that a total of nine former and current Governors have been brought to legal proceedings, both criminal and civil, for their involvement in the embezzlement of public funds.
“The cases are at various stages of hearing by the courts. Many more are under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds and possession of unexplained wealth,” Oginde said.
Ex-Nyandarua Governor Daniel Waithaka is confronted with allegations of procurement fraud, similar to the situation of Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki who is also facing the same charges.
Ex-Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu is currently in a legal proceeding for the misappropriation of public funds and having unexplained wealth. Likewise, former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal is confronting allegations related to both conflict of interest and the misappropriation of funds.
Ex-Migori Governor, Okoth Obado, is currently in a courtroom due to allegations of misappropriating public funds, while ex-Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero, is confronting accusations related to the mismanagement of public funds and having unexplained wealth.
Mike Mbuvi Sonko, the ex-Governor of Nairobi, is currently facing legal proceedings for the alleged misappropriation of public funds. Similarly, Sospeter Ojaamong, the previous Governor of Busia, and Mwangi wa Iria, the former Governor of Murang’a, are also in court on charges related to embezzlement of public funds.
Over the past five years, the EACC has effectively reclaimed embezzled public funds from individuals in both the national and county administrations, totaling an amount of Ksh 23.74 billion, and subsequently restored these funds for the welfare of the public.
The Commission successfully prevented the potential misplacement of Sh36.5 billion in public funds by dismantling networks of corruption and economic crime orchestrated by public servants at both the national and county levels of government.
“Currently, recovery cases for assets worth over Sh40.78 billion are going on in various courts across the country. Out of the targeted for recovery, assets worth Sh4 billion are grabbed pieces of government land in Mombasa County,” Oginde said.
In addition to probing corruption cases and reclaiming misappropriated public funds, the EACC has also engaged in Corruption Risk Assessments for 27 out of the 47 county administrations. This effort aims to proactively combat corruption at the county level.
“These are systems audits targeting key departments prone to corruption such as finance, procurement, and human resource in both the County Assembly and County Executive,” the EACC chair noted.
EACC Chairman Bishop David Oginde said: “Corruption cases especially the big ones drag for 10-15 years, some even 20 years, already these people have enjoyed what they stole those on leadership positions…have served and retired…so we are lobbying so that these cases are heard and determined fast as possible…6 months, at most 1 year…so that if the person is clean, they’re released to serve the nation…if he is dirty let them be removed from where they are to where they belong.”
“The counties have been given reports with key reform recommendations to implement to end graft.”
Bishop Oginde raised issues regarding the amount of time the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) takes to investigate individuals suspected of corruption.
9 Governors, Including Waititu, Obado, and Sonko, Face Ongoing Court Cases – EACC