The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Tuesday celebrated a major win in its fight against corruption after successfully recovering over Ksh67 million that had been unlawfully paid to a senior official at the National Treasury and Planning.
The recovery came after the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division of the High Court ruled that the official had received public funds under the guise of allowances—including taskforce, facilitation, entertainment, and extraneous allowances—without following the proper approval procedures set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
According to EACC, the High Court not only ordered the officer to repay a total of Ksh67,664,975 but also directed the forfeiture of additional funds already frozen in her bank accounts. These included Ksh2,443,667.92 in her Equity Bank account and Ksh6,320,419.80 in another unidentified account.
The court further instructed that interest be charged on the refunded amount until the entire sum is fully paid. Additionally, the Treasury official is required to cover all legal costs incurred in the case.
EACC investigations revealed that between January 2020 and June 2022, the official had been receiving overlapping and unjustified payments that are not allowed under public service rules. Many of these payments exceeded the limits of her job group and had not been authorised by the SRC.
“These payments were made without any official approval and went against SRC’s guidelines, which are legally binding. The court faulted the National Treasury for disbursing these funds without first consulting the SRC and following the correct procedures,” said a statement from EACC.
The commission also revealed that this case is part of a broader crackdown on irregular payments within the Treasury. So far, EACC has managed to recover over Ksh174 million from Treasury officers who had benefited from similar illegal schemes in the past.
This latest development comes shortly after another ruling in June, where the High Court directed two Treasury officials to repay a total of Ksh39.1 million that they had unlawfully obtained through various unauthorized allowances and perks.
According to EACC, the two officers relied on old and revoked government circulars to justify their actions. In government, circulars play an important role in outlining which allowances are allowed and which ones are not.
In this earlier case, one of the officials was ordered to refund Ksh20,318,000. Of this amount, Ksh11,078,601 was already frozen in his bank account, and he is expected to pay the remaining Ksh9,239,398.17 in cash.
The second official was directed to return Ksh18,862,000. Out of this, Ksh8,953,988.74 had already been frozen in her bank account, with the balance of Ksh9,908,011.26 to be paid in cash.
Both rulings highlight growing efforts by EACC and the judiciary to hold corrupt officials accountable, especially those exploiting loopholes to enrich themselves using public funds.
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