The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has warned new governors against dismissing or suspending workers in a bid to avoid incurring cost and labour suits from the cases.
In a statement, EACC's head of Corporate Affairs and Communication, Eric Ngumbi noted that the new governors would set the wrong footing by spending public funds on settling damages and suit costs should the aggrieved staff members successfully seek legal redress.
"Suspension and dismissal of staff, if done arbitrarily and outside applicable laws may attract labour suits leading to loss of funds through payment of damages and costs," read Ngumbi's statement.
Further, the commission urged the new governors to share all of the new graft-related cases they had unearthed within the county for legal action.
The cases include fraudulent schemes, pending bills, inflated costs of projects and ghost workers.
"... share with EACC information on discovered corruption schemes and malpractices such as fraudulent pending bills, inflated cost of projects and ghost workers," Ngumbi stated.
The caution came against the backdrop of new governors sending several officers on compulsory leave over graft allegations
On Thursday, September 1, new Homa Bay Governor, Gladys Wanga announced that all senior county Human Resources Managers were sent on compulsory leave to give room for audit and investigations on the HR systems.
"Following complaints by the public and several allegations of irregularities and ethical issues touching on recruitment of staff in the County Government of Homa Bay and given Governor Gladys Wanga's commitment to good governance, transparency and accountability, devoid of corruption; the county government has today sent the following officers on compulsory leave to give room for audit and investigations."
The officers were also barred from accessing the county government offices' records and premises or conducting any transactions on behalf of the government until the conclusion of investigations.
"The governor has urged residents to support her reform initiatives to get the county back on track to achieve the desired level of service delivery to the people of Homa Bay. The governor stated that going forward, there will be no cadre of county jobs available for sale," read part of the notice.
