Garissa member of County Assembly (MCA) has been arrested over claims of losing public money through suspicious payments. Two former county officials were also arrested in the same case.
The three were picked up on Sunday by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Among the suspects is a former Director of Accounting Services and a Senior Principal Economist, who used to work in the county.
The suspects are expected to make an appearance before the Garissa Law Courts in the morning to answer the charges against them.
The suspects are accused of approving the payment of 51.4 million shillings to a private company for services and goods not delivered to the county.
In essence, the suspects are accused of diverting public funds from the county’s coffers without any corresponding public goods and services.
This comes at a time when the EACC has said the arrest is part of the ongoing efforts to curb the misuse of public funds by the county governments.
In the recent past, there have been an increased number of scandals related to the misuse of funds by the county governments, prompting the government to take drastic measures.
This is not the first scandal related to the misuse of funds by the county governments, as the suspects were arrested just a few weeks ago for the alleged misuse of funds related to the tendering process by the Homa Bay County Assembly.
In the latest scandal, the suspects are accused of an irregular tender deal valued at Ksh348 million.
However, the EACC has stated that the investigations are ongoing and urges public servants to avoid engaging in any corrupt deals, as the law will take its course against those found engaging in such malpractices.