DPP Haji orders arrest of officials over loss of county cash

DPP Noordin Haji at a past event in June 2018. He has said the county officials will be charged with various economic crimes. [File, Standard]

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has ordered for the arrest of seven Homa Bay County officials over suspected embezzlement of Sh26, 872, 278 in MCA allowances.

The officials are said to have lost the monies through fictitious procurement of hotel services and payment of MCA allowances for the financial years 2014/15 and 2016/17.

In a statement to newsrooms, Haji said the seven included the County Assembly Clerk Bob Kephas, three Members of the County Assembly and officials from the finance and procurement department.

“I have reviewed the file and I am satisfied the persons named herein actively participated in the perpetration of the alleged activities and should therefore be charged and prosecuted,” he said.

The seven include:

Michael Owino Ooro

Isaac Ouso Nyandege

Judith Akinyi Omongi

Otieno Bob Kephas

Caroline Sang

Morris Odiwuor Amek

Edwin Omondi Okollo

Where it began

In 2017 Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers raided the County Assembly to investigate fraud allegations linked to senior officials.

The commission questioned how one of the County Assembly officials made land transactions amounting to Sh100 million and constructed palatial homes in questionable circumstances.

The officials on the spot then were Assembly Clerk Kephers Otieno and Principal Finance Officer Maurice Amek, whose offices were ransacked.

In May 2017, Kephas went to court to stop the investigation arguing that the ongoing investigations had reportedly stalled the activities of the Assembly.