By Ongaga Ongaga
The High Court has ordered a former Homa Bay County Government employee to refund Sh708,664 to the Government after she was found to have received additional salary payments for more than three years.
Justice Benjamin Mwikya Musyoki ordered former county medical social worker Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno and former county payroll officer Maurice Ochieng Wambo to jointly and severally refund the money.
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The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had sued Ogweno, Wambo and two other former county payroll officials over the additional salary payments made to Ogweno between February 2015 and May 2018.
According to the Commission, Ogweno, who previously worked as a medical social worker at Ndiru Hospital Centre in Rangwe Sub-County, received Sh708,664 over and above her regular salary during the period.
“The recovery follows investigations into the payment of multiple salaries to current and former employees of Homa Bay County Government,” EACC said.
The Commission said its investigations established that Ogweno, who worked in the County Department of Health Services, received the additional payments over a period of more than three years.
EACC subsequently filed a recovery suit against Ogweno and three former county payroll officials, seeking restitution of the funds it said had been irregularly paid through the county payroll system.
The Commission had asked the court to declare the additional monthly salary payments illegal and fraudulent and to order the defendants to repay the money to the government.
It also sought declarations that the defendants had misappropriated Sh708,664 in public funds, together with damages, costs and interest.
The recovery forms part of a wider EACC investigation into alleged losses amounting to Sh42.25 million through the Homa Bay County Government payroll system.
“The recovery is part of a series of cases filed by the Commission following investigations into the alleged loss of Sh42,249,988 through the Homa Bay County Government payroll system,” EACC said.
The Commission said it is pursuing other cases arising from the investigations, including criminal prosecution of public officials alleged to have borne the greatest responsibility for the payroll fraud.
The case was filed under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, with EACC seeking recovery of public funds on behalf of the County Government of Homa Bay.
The judgment brings the specific recovery claim against Ogweno and Wambo to a conclusion, with the Sh708,664 ordered to be refunded to the Government of Kenya.
