- On the allegations of embezzlement and/or misappropriation of public funds, Bishop Oginde said EACC received 2,994 reports followed by Public Procurement irregularities which recorded 1,130.
- Abuse of Office among county officials had 840, while unethical conduct noted 747 reports.
The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission chairperson Bishop David Oginde has unveiled the state of corruption in counties.
In a report dubbed; Devolution at 10 years: Highlights of the state of corruption in county governments, Bishop Oginde unpacked cases of graft they have investigated in the last 10 years in counties.
"The most prevalent malpractices in the counties include embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, procurement fraud, payroll fraud mainly through ghost workers, fraudulent pending bills and blatant disregard of laws relating to prudent management of public affairs," Ogine said in his address in Mombasa.
Further, the EACC Chair said they have received and processed 10,543 reports of corruption and unethical conduct relating to county governments.
"Upon analysis, 7,310 reports were found to be within the mandate of the Commission and taken up for investigation, the reports outside the Commission’s mandate were referred to other agencies with the mandate to take action," Oginde noted.
County officials are part of the public officials whose assets have been forfeited to the Government following recovery proceedings by EACC.
On the allegations of embezzlement and/or misappropriation of public funds, Bishop Oginde said EACC received 2,994 reports followed by Public Procurement irregularities which recorded 1,130.
Abuse of Office among county officials had 840, while unethical conduct noted 747 reports.
Others; bribery (578) fraudulent acquisition and disposal of public property (315), conflict of Interest (220), unexplained wealth (198), fraud (126), maladministration (126), Penal code offences (17), and breach of trust (19)
In the period of ten years, Oginde said nine former and serving Governors have been taken to court for criminal and civil proceedings related to the theft of public funds.
"The cases are at various stages of hearing by the courts. Many more are under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds and possession of unexplained wealth," Oginde said.
In the last 10 years, Nine (9) former and serving Governors have been taken to court for criminal and civil proceedings related to the theft of public funds as tabulated below.
The cases are at various stages of hearing by the courts. Many more are under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds and possession of unexplained wealth.
In the last 5 years, EACC has successfully recovered stolen public assets from officials in both national and county governments cumulatively orth Sh23.74 billion and returned the same for public benefit.
The Commission also averted the potential loss of Sh36.5 billion of public funds through the disruption of corruption and economic crime networks organized by public officials from both national and county governments.
"Currently, recovery cases for assets worth over Sh40.78 billion are going on in various courts across the country. Out of the targeted for recovery, assets worth Sh4 billion are grabbed pieces of government land in Mombasa County," Oginde said.
Besides corruption investigations and recovery of stolen public funds, EACC has, in a bid to prevent corruption in the counties, undertaken Corruption Risk Assessments in 27 out of 47 county governments.
"These are systems audits targeting key departments prone to corruption such as finance, procurement and human resource in both the County Assembly and County Executive," the EACC chair noted.
"The counties have been given reports with key reform recommendations to implement so as to end graft."