Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has started investigating the expenditure of millions of shillings by the Bungoma County Government to host a Christmas tree lighting event and a foreign benchmarking trip.
EACC is investigating the expenditure of approximately KSh 3.7 million spent on the Christmas tree event and KSh 2.8 million spent on a trip to Mbale, Uganda. The total amount spent on these two events is approximately KSh 6.6 million.
This investigation is a result of the issues raised by the Senate Public Accounts Committee over the possible irregular expenditure of the County Government of Bungoma. During the recent Senate sitting, Bungoma County Governor Kenneth Lusaka was asked to explain the Christmas tree event.
It is alleged that the County spent a huge amount of money hosting the Christmas tree event. However, the event took place in September 2019, three months before the Christmas season.
The senators asked the governor why the County spent such a huge amount of money hosting the Christmas tree event. The senators also asked the governor why the County spent the money so early before the Christmas season.
According to the audit report, the money spent on the Christmas tree event was drawn from the County vote through an imprest system.
In a letter to the county authorities, the EACC demanded the original documents to back the expenditure. The EACC demanded budgets, requisitions, imprest records, cashbooks, bank slips, as well as the personal documents of the officials involved in the expenditure.
The EACC demanded all documents associated with the Christmas celebrations as well as the Uganda trip.
It is reported that the 22 Members of the County Assembly and senior officials in the county traveled to Mbale for the benchmarking trip.
The EACC stated that its officials will collect the documents by February 16, 2026, as part of the investigations into the alleged corruption, fraud, as well as the misuse of public resources.
Bungoma County has in the past been associated with corruption allegations. The former county boss Wycliffe Wangamati was charged over alleged kickbacks of KSh 31 million.
The current county boss Lusaka has in the past been associated with corruption allegations over the costs of doing business in the county due to the costs of doing business in the county.
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