The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has moved to court seeking to recover Sh13.9million fraudulently obtained as imprests by a former political advisor to the governor Geoffrey Kimonge Mbogho.
In August 2020, the anti-graft body received a complaint on allegation of failure to surrender outstanding imprest of Sh13,977,987 by one Geoffrey Kimonge Mbogoh, the then political advisor to former governor John Mruttu.
“Geoffrey Kimonge Mbogho, therefore, contrary to his duty as a public officer and in breach of public trust, illegally and fraudulently acquired a total of Sh13,977,987 for his personal gain thereby unjustly enriching himself at the expense of the public,” EACC stated.
He allegedly obtained the said monies on diverse dates and never declared.
Mbogho got the funds between 2015 and 2017, according to the anti-graft agency’s investigations, which began in 2020, and were announced yesterday.
The imprests, according to EACC, were allegedly obtained for Taita Taveta county employees and members of the county assembly (MCAs). He never distributed the funds to the targeted recipients.
On November 27, 2015, he illegally applied for a new impression and collected Sh1,070,000 that was supposed to be for MCA allowances. He never gave the money to the aforementioned county assembly members.
On March 17, 2016, Mbogho allegedly requested an additional Sh1.3 million, ostensibly for allowances for members of several county assemblies.
As per paperwork submitted to the court, Mbogho amassed a total of Sh10 million in identical claims in 2016.
“On December 13, 2016 he fraudulently applied for and received imprest of Sh7,233,381 purportedly as daily subsistence allowance (per diem) for employees of the said county government traveling to Dubai.
Investigations established that he never remitted Sh1,307,997 to some of the employees of the said county and has never surrendered the imprest,” EACC said.