The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has secured an order to recover Sh708,664 paid irregularly to a former Homa Bay County Government employee over more than three years.
In a judgment delivered on September 18, High Court judge Benjamin Musyoki ordered the former employee and a former county payroll official to jointly refund the money to the government.
The case arose from EACC investigations into multiple salary payments to current and former Homa Bay county employees.
The commission established that the former employee received additional payments between February 2015 and May 2018, over and above her regular salary.
EACC sued the former employee and three former county payroll officials, arguing that the additional payments were illegal and fraudulent and that the officials had facilitated the loss of public funds.
However, two of the payroll officials defended the case and denied responsibility for the payments.
One told the court that his role was principally linked to the Integrated Payroll and Personal Data (IPPD) system, while the disputed payments were connected to the county’s parallel manual payroll.
He said he detected the double payments while performing his duties and took steps to stop them in June 2018.
He denied knowing the former employee personally and said there was no evidence that he had received or shared any of the disputed money.
The other former payroll manager said he was responsible for the digital payroll and had no access to the manual system.
He told the court that employees could remain on both systems after being integrated into the digital payroll, creating a possibility of duplicate payments.
He said he had raised concerns about the two systems in July 2015 but maintained that he had no mandate to control the manual payroll or authorise payments from it.
EACC investigator Augustine Mukwekwe, however, told the court that analysis of county records and bank statements showed the former employee had received Sh708,664 in excess payments.
The commission also produced an email in which the former employee undertook to repay the money in instalments of Sh10,000 a month.
Justice Musyoki said the undertaking amounted to an acknowledgement that the former employee had received excess payments.
“What matters is that she received payments from the government which she was neither entitled to nor had earned,” the judge said.
He added that whether the payments resulted from fraud, deliberate action or an error did not change their recoverability.
“They remain irregular and recoverable,” Justice Musyoki said, finding that EACC had proved on a balance of probabilities that the former employee received undeserved payments totalling Sh708,664.
The judge, however, found EACC had not established that the two payroll officials who defended the case authorised or facilitated the payments.
He noted that the disputed payments began in February 2015, while one of the officials only became payroll manager in June 2015.
The court also found that EACC had not produced the payment schedules or instructions showing that either official authorised the duplicate payments.
“The fact that an officer eventually detects an irregularity does not, without more, establish that he authorised, facilitated or negligently permitted all preceding transactions,” Justice Musyoki said.
The judge further noted that the former employee and the other payroll official did not defend the suit, and held the latter liable because the evidence linked the irregular payments to the manual payroll system under his responsibility.
Justice Musyoki declined EACC’s request for Sh3 million in general and exemplary damages, saying restitution of the public funds would be sufficient and that additional damages could amount to double compensation.
The court ordered the Sh708,664 to attract interest at court rates from the date the suit was filed until payment in full.
EACC’s claim against the two payroll officials who defended the case was dismissed, with the commission ordered to pay their costs.
The former employee and the other former payroll official were ordered to meet EACC’s costs.
The case is part of a series of suits arising from EACC investigations into alleged loss of Sh42,249,988 through the Homa Bay County Government payroll system.
