Massive Shillings Heist: EACC Exposes Siaya County Plunder
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has uncovered loopholes through which Siaya County misappropriates millions of dollars.
On Thursday, while presenting a corruption risk assessment report to Siaya Governor James Orengo, EACC disclosed that a former employee earned a salary for seven years despite being transferred to a different county, pocketing a whopping Ksh.4.5 million.
On 11 May 2012, the officer in question was transferred from Siaya County to Bungoma County, but he continued to receive pay until October 2019.
Another officer from Siaya County, who retired in December 2019, received a salary of Ksh 94,000 in January 2020, despite having rendered no services.
In addition, the commission reported on the status of stalled initiatives that had cost taxpayers millions of shillings without any indication of value for money.
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The Siaya bus park was identified in the assessment report as a site where Ksh.17.5 million were wasted due to the project’s inactivity and widespread vandalism.
According to the report, the project was 80% complete when the contractor abandoned the site in July 2022.
The internal audit report on project management from 2015 to 2019 implicates ward administrators in the misappropriation of Ksh 13,3 million in irregular disbursements of project management committee allowances.
The commission did, however, make several recommendations, such as the full implementation of IFMIS modules, adherence to procurement regulations, development of a service scheme, and regular inspection of development projects, among others.
John Ogallo, the commissioner of the EACC, stated, “The recommendations that came out of the corruption risk assessment are meant to strengthen those systems processes and procedures so that going forward the weaknesses that we have identified can be sealed to ensure a strong governance structure at both the executive and county assembly levels.”
Massive Shillings Heist: EACC Exposes Siaya County Plunder
