Africa-Press – Kenya. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Court has ordered a former Homa Bay County Assembly Clerk and five others to pay back Sh47 million they fraudulently acquired from the assembly.
According to the charge sheet, the six faced 17 counts relating to the loss of Sh47,075,978 by the County Assembly being payment for services that were never rendered.
In the suit filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in November 2021, the former Clerk was charged alongside his wife, a former principal finance officer, a former senior accounts controller and two partners of a local company.
The charge sheet shows that the defendants committed the offences between January 2015 and January 2017.
The former clerk faced multiple counts including abuse of office where he was accused of approving payments to a company without proof that any works, services or goods were undertaken or delivered to the county assembly.
The owners of the company were on their part accused of unlawfully acquiring public funds and stealing the sum of money while they knew they were neither employees of the county assembly and neither had they undertaken any works nor rendered any services to the county assembly.
In her verdict delivered on December 7, 2023, Justice Esther Maina said she was satisfied that the defendants corruptly acquired the Sh47 million as claimed by EACC and ordered them to pay back the entire amount plus interest at a court rate of 12 per cent from the date of loss.
“An order for the Defendants to jointly and severally pay back to the Homa Bay County Assembly the sum of Sh47,075,978 which they had fraudulently acquired together with interests at court rates, from the date of loss,” Justice Maina said.
The EACC told the court that investigations established that the six occasioned the loss of the funds by illegally paying themselves or causing to be paid monies for no services rendered.
The Commission said the former Assembly Clerk, his wife and associates fraudulently acquired public property by receiving payments for services not rendered contrary to section 45(1)(a) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003.
“The Assembly Clerk unlawfully used his office to improperly confer a benefit to himself and others contrary to section 46 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003,” the commission said.
EACC said the former Assembly Clerk received Sh24 million of the stolen funds, his wife Sh1.7 million, a former principal finance officer Sh3.9 million, a former senior accounts controller Sh5 million and two joint proprietors of a local company received Sh12.2 million.
The commission said a criminal case against the defendants is still ongoing at the Homa Bay Anti-Corruption Court.
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