The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has recovered over Ksh. 39 million in unapproved allowances that were allegedly fraudulently paid to two officers at the National Treasury and Planning.

Nairobi’s Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division of the High Court ruled that Robert Theuri Murage and Doris Nafula Simiyu illegally received the funds between January 2020 and June 2022 under irregular and unauthorised categories such as facilitation, taskforce, entertainment, extraneous, and other undefined allowances.

In her judgment delivered on June 4, 2025, Lady Justice L.M. Njuguna found that the payments violated advice issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and lacked lawful justification.

“The Defendants in receiving the allowances knew or had every reason to believe that they were not entitled to them but they went ahead and received the money. This court would not hesitate to find that the Defendants received the allowances fraudulently and illegally. I so find," ruled Justice Njuguna. 

The judge also noted that the allowances were paid despite clear guidelines requiring SRC approval.

“This court has carefully gone through the various payment vouchers… and I can confirm that none of the payments were made upon advice by SRC,” the judgment stated.

The court thus ordered Mr. Murage to repay Ksh.20,318,000, with Ksh.11,078,601 forfeited from his Equity Bank account and the remaining Ksh.9,239,398.17 to be paid in cash.

Ms. Simiyu, on the other hand, was directed to refund Ksh.18,862,000, including Ksh.8,953,988.74 forfeited from her National Bank account and a cash payment of Ksh.9,908,011.26.

The commission says the ruling now affirms that SRC’s guidance is binding under Article 230 of the Constitution, citing the Court of Appeal's precedent that failure to observe SRC’s advice renders payments unlawful and the public officials liable for a refund.

Interest will accrue at court rates until full recovery, and the commission will be awarded the costs of the suit.