NAIROBI, Kenya- The High Court has ordered former Homa Bay County Assembly Clerk Bob Kephas Otieno and two others to pay the Government Sh12,571,166.50 in public funds fraudulently transferred from the Assembly’s salary suspense account.
In a judgment delivered on October 16, 2026, Justice Benjamin Musyoki ruled in favour of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), finding that payments to Lillian Achieng and David Obonyo under the guise of salaries were unlawful.
The case followed investigations into transfers from the Assembly’s salary suspense account to a joint bank account held by Achieng and Obonyo.
The EACC said Otieno, who was then the Assembly Clerk, authorised the payments between December 24, 2015, and December 22, 2017.
The transfers totalled Sh12,571,166.50.
Investigators established that neither Achieng nor Obonyo was employed by the County Assembly or the County Government during the period covered by the transactions.
Achieng was a teacher employed by the Teachers Service Commission, while Obonyo worked as the Business Growth and Development Manager at Equity Bank’s Homa Bay branch.
The EACC said neither was a supplier or contractor to the county government or assembly.
The Commission said the money was transferred on different dates and in varying amounts.
It argued that the pattern did not resemble regular salary payments and that the funds had been paid for work neither recipient performed for the Assembly.
The court found Otieno liable for causing the loss of public funds through corrupt and fraudulent conduct.
Achieng and Obonyo were also found liable for fraudulently receiving public money for work not done or services not rendered.
The EACC filed the recovery case, listed as ACEC Suit No. E011 of 2022, seeking to have the funds returned to the Government.
The judgment gives effect to the Commission’s claim that the payments were not legitimate salaries.
The Commission said the recovery order followed its investigation into the movement of money from the Assembly’s account to the joint account.
It said the funds were public resources and that those responsible for their loss should be held accountable.
The ruling brings to a close the Commission’s recovery suit over the transfers made during Otieno’s tenure as Assembly Clerk.
The amount the court ordered recovered is the same total that investigators traced to the joint account between 2015 and 2017.
The EACC said it remains committed to protecting public resources and pursuing people responsible for their loss or misappropriation.
