TUKO.co.ke journalist Harry Ivan Mboto has over three years of experience reporting on politics and current affairs in Kenya

A bold ruling in Nairobi reclaimed over KSh 39 million in public funds fraudulently paid to two National Treasury officers through unapproved allowances.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) won the case after uncovering irregular payments made between January 2020 and June 2022.

Lady Justice L.M. Njuguna of the anti-corruption and economic crimes division delivered the judgment on June 4.

Robert Theuri Murage and Doris Nafula Simiyu were found guilty of illegally receiving allowances disguised as taskforce, extraneous, entertainment, facilitation, and other unspecified payments.

In court documents seen by , the court ordered Murage to refund KSh 20,318,000, including KSh 11,078,601 forfeited from his Equity Bank account, with the remaining KSh 9,239,398.17 to be paid in cash.

Simiyu was directed to repay KSh 18,862,000, with KSh 8,953,988.74 forfeited from her National Bank account and the balance of KSh 9,908,011.26 to be paid in cash.

The ruling also included payment of interest at court rates until full recovery and the costs of the suit to be paid to the EACC.

The case followed investigations launched by the EACC in July 2022, after reports of irregular payments at the National Treasury.

The Commission’s probe revealed that the officers received multiple and overlapping payments for committees and task forces.

The payments were made without approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), and justification was based on outdated or superseded circulars.

Additionally, some allowances were either not applicable to the officers’ job groups or did not exist in law, such as facilitation allowances, with many payments duplicated or undefined.

During the trial, the EACC presented evidence from both the SRC and the National Treasury confirming that the allowances were unauthorised and violated SRC circulars, including binding advisories issued on December 16, 2015, and April 22, 2021, which explicitly rejected such payments.

The court reaffirmed that SRC’s advisory role on public officers’ remuneration is binding under Article 230 of the Constitution.

Justice Njuguna ruled that the defendants knowingly took part in a fraudulent scheme that unjustly enriched them at the public’s expense.

The recovered funds will be returned to the National Treasury for public use.

In a related story, the EACC recovered public land worth over KSh 400 million in Nairobi’s Loresho area. A court nullified all titles to the 4.9-acre plot, ruling the land was illegally subdivided and allocated.

The land, reserved for expanding the Loresho Water Reservoir, was grabbed in 1995. EACC launched investigations in 2021 after complaints from residents.

The court found the land was never meant for private use. All titles were cancelled, and the property returned to the government for its original public purpose.

Source: TUKO.co.ke