The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) Chairperson David Oginde on Tuesday revealed that the Siaya County Government staff swindled Ksh1 billion through false trips and inflated budgets.
While speaking to the media the anti-graft commission chairperson stated that some of the workers allegedly convened meetings in Kisumu, Kampala, and even Eldoret to fraudulently obtain facilitation funds.
"Now that I am in Kisumu County, we have come to investigate this region. We have three counties, Kisumu, Siaya, and Vihiga County. Yesterday we got a report from the regional manager of Kisumu asking us what is going wrong in this region," Oginde remarked.
"We have realised that in Siaya County, those who work at the county government are obtaining money through false claims. They have gone for a meeting in Eldoret, in Kampala, or even in Kisumu which they in turn don't go," Oginde alleged.
He added that the money spent totalled Ksh1 billion upon consolidation.
"In Siaya County, very soon you will see those people being arrested and being forwarded for action," Oginde declared in the interview with anchor Trevor Ombija on Ramogi TV,
"In every case we have done investigations, to be able to tell you all these, we must have done our investigations and found out the truth in the amounts that have been stolen in the county. We then forward the file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to forward the matter to court."
The EACC Chairman also revealed that the commission was looking into a similar corruption case at the Homa Bay County government.
According to Oginde, the graft case also involved the manipulation of payroll to favour some workers.
“In the whole Nyanza region, Homa Bay is the leading county on graft cases. Those in the Homa Bay County Government have stolen a lot of money. The people of Nyanza must stand firm and not allow such," the EACC Chairperson noted.
"In Homa Bay alone, there are several graft cases involving Ksh625 million, Ksh400 million, Ksh260 million, and much more."
The EACC Chairman also revealed they were investigating 28 other counties for graft allegations and that the commission had completed investigations into nine governors.
However, one of the standout cases was linked to the Museum of Kenya where over Ksh490 million was reportedly stolen through ghost workers. A comprehensive investigation file was already forwarded to relevant authorities.
