The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Tuesday secured a major victory in the fight against graft, recovering over Ksh67 million irregularly paid to an officer at the National Treasury and Planning.
This followed a ruling by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division, which found that the officer had received public funds disguised as taskforce, facilitation, entertainment, extraneous, and other allowances, without proper authorisation or approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
EACC stated that the High Court ordered the refund of Ksh67,664,975 and the forfeiture of funds held in the suspect's bank accounts, Ksh2,443,667.92 in her Equity account and Ksh6,320,419.80 in another bank account.
Additionally, the court directed that interest be paid on the amount until it is fully recovered, along with all legal costs incurred in the case.
EACC investigations revealed that between January 2020 and June 2022, the official received overlapping and unjustified allowances not recognised in public service guidelines.
"These included payments beyond her job group and allowances not sanctioned by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). The court reaffirmed that SRC’s advice is binding and criticised the National Treasury for effecting payments without adhering to due process," EACC confirmed.
According to the commission, it has so far recovered over Ksh174 million from Treasury officials involved in similar fraudulent schemes in the past.
This was confirmed after the commission uncovered a major financial scandal within the National Treasury, which came to light after the High Court ruled that two officials must refund Ksh39.1 million acquired unlawfully through allowances and perks, in another ruling issued in June.
The officials had based the unlawful allowances on outdated and revoked government circulars. Government circulars play a crucial role in specifying which allowances are permitted and which are not.
The officials meandered their way into pocketing the millions after receiving multiple and overlapping allowances without proper approval from the SRC.
One of the officials was ordered to refund Ksh20,318,000, with Ksh11,078,601 already frozen in his bank account, while the remainder (Ksh9,239,398.17) is to be paid in cash.
Similarly, the other official was directed to return Ksh18,862,000, including Ksh8,953,988.74 frozen in her bank account, with Ksh9,908,011.26 to be settled in cash.
