Siaya loses Sh2.8b to corruption since 2013

Siaya County has lost Sh2.8 billion to corruption since 2013, a senior Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) official has said.

The commission's Western Kenya regional deputy head, Danstan Aura, described the state of corruption in the county as worrying, saying 313 corruption cases have been reported to the commission since 2013.

He said out of the cases handed over to the EACC, only 67 have been assigned for active investigations.

Mr Aura said the corruption involved both county and national government offices in Siaya.

No names mentioned

He, however, did not name those involved in the loss of money and whether they have been charged in court.

Aura, who was speaking in Siaya town at the weekend during an accountability dialogue forum, said only five cases were before court.

"Investigations on the remaining reports are ongoing. Some files have been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as well," he said.

He denied claims by residents and civil society activists that the regional EACC office was not committed to the fight against corruption.

Some of the delegates at the meeting had accused the EACC officials of reluctance to investigate cases sent to them.

But Aura blamed top politicians and leaders in the county, whom he did not name, for intimidation and interference, which he said frustrated corruption investigations.

He cited the case of Siaya ward reps who pocketed allowances despite not going for a trip to Uganda.

He said the commission had recommended that the money be recovered from the ward reps.

"Investigations on this particular report is going on. For those who did not go we have recommended recovery of the money," he said.

Aura said getting documents from the county to help with investigations was becoming impossible, with EACC officers being intimidated by county staff.

"We get calls from all over which make our work difficult. When we visit this county for investigations, employees are put on alert not to allow us have any documents that can aid in investigations," he said.

Aura called on graft whistle blowers to back their reports with evidence.

"Do not come to us with rumours; this is where we have a disconnect with people. Come to us with specific cases with evidence and we will look into them," he said.

Chris Owalla, the director of Community Initiative Action Group and a human rights activist who organised the forum, claimed some EACC officials were being paid by the county government not to act on corruption reports.

Most corrupt

Mr Owalla mentioned land as well as birth and death registration offices among those with high corruption cases in the county.

He appealed to the EACC to investigate the bloated wage bill and employment issues in both the executive and the county assembly.

"In the birth and death registration offices, we have complaints from residents on how officials demand for bribes before issuing those certificates. The issue of bursaries in Siaya, both at the constituency offices and county government must be looked into," said Owalla.

"We have raised concerns on stalled projects yet they were paid for and constant abuse of office by our leaders. We are aware of cases where the elderly are robbed of their little monies by government officials," added Owalla.

However, the County Director of Governance, Alfred Aboma, defended the administration saying most of the reports taken before the EACC were witch-hunt.

Mr Aboma called on EACC to differentiate between real cases of corruption and those that were meant to taint the image of individuals or the county.

"Most of the reports brought to the attention of the commission do not hold water; some of those cases do not even exist. Our people must not rush to make reports without proper evidence," he said.

Western region's legal officer from the office of the ombudsman, Franklin Lilako, said many residents were not aware of the process of making complaints against errant county officials.

Mr Lilako said his office had received a number of complaints from some residents against the county government.

He said Siaya was not performing well in responding to these complaints.