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A clerical officer with the Education Ministry who is accused of creating a non-existent school and channelling Sh11 million to his bank account could be charged with corruption.
Anti-graft detectives have asked Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji to charge Joshua Momanyi Ocharo with fraudulently receiving free education funds.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission said this in a quarterly report published in the Kenya Gazette on Friday.
The agency wants the official charged with abuse of office, deceiving the principal and fraudulent acquisition of public property.
EACC wants Momanyi charged with dealing with suspect property and forgery contrary to the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Penal Code.
Details show he was tasked with data entry from data capture forms that were being submitted by the subcounty directors of education.
EACC said it established that Momanyi was responsible for preparing the funds distribution schedule for all schools getting Free Secondary Day Education cash.
He held the post between August 2017 and September 2018, the time he reportedly inserted Mundeku Secondary School and linked it to his Equity Bank account.
“Investigations established that Mundeku Secondary School was non-existent,” EACC said in the report dated May 17.
“It was revealed the said employee misled his employer by submitting a funds distribution schedule with misleading information about the school as a recipient, thereby causing financial loss to the Ministry of Education.”
On receiving the money, the probe says Momanyi transferred Sh3.4 million to another account he maintained and operated at Kenya Commercial Bank.
The anti-graft agency said it established the officer bought land described as Donyo Sabuk/Komarock measuring 0.04 hectares at Sh830,000, paid from his KCB account.
EACC says Momanyi used some of the monies to acquire a second parcel of land from Fanaka Real Estate, in Mavoko at Sh980,000 paid from the Equity account.
The probe revealed he bought a motor vehicle for Sh2.5 million and had paid Sh2.35 million at the time of investigations. EACC has since recovered Sh1.9 million from the dealer.
EACC seeks to recover Sh9.2 million from Momanyi, being part of the total amount he fraudulently received from the ministry.
Usually, a summary of all the banks through which the funds are to be paid is prepared, detailing what each bank was to receive.
Requisition or approval forms are attached to the schedule which okays the release of funds from the Ministry of Education account held at the Central Bank of Kenya.
Payment vouchers are then prepared and approved before funds transfers are effected at the CBK through the IFMIS system.
A cash trail revealed he withdrew Sh6.9 million, of which Sh3.5 was wired to his KCB account and another Sh850,000 was used as part payment for the Ol Donyo Sabuk land.
Momanyi’s dealings were discovered after Oxford University Press, during textbook distribution, failed to locate the school which was purported to be in Khwisero constituency in Kakamega.
The ministry wired money to the Equity Bank account in tranches, the first being Sh253,800 and another Sh450,000 on August 22, 2017.
On September 29 of the same year, the ministry wired Sh781,000 in two transactions and another Sh6.6 million in January 2018. In May of the same year, the ministry paid Sh2.7 million.
The last payment was Sh250,000 made in June 2018, bringing the total receipts to Sh11,131,305 for the period under review.
National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee cited inaccurate data on learners and failure by the ministry to fully migrate to NEMIS as fuelling such acts.
An Education officer was once interdicted for inflating enrolment data for over 180 schools, causing the loss of Sh269 million.
Momanyi’s case headlined the 59 files EACC says it forwarded to DPP Haji between January and March this year.
Of the files, 18 are awaiting the DPP’s advice while another 18 are recommended for prosecution, nine returned for further investigations, and nine are set for closure.
Among those facing charges is Machakos Public Works CEC for conflict of interest in a tender for the construction of non-motorised transport facilities and parking bays.
“The tender was awarded to Wisdom Holdings Limited, a company in which the executive committee member held an indirect interest and was the signatory,” EACC said.
The probe established that the resident engineer was not appointed through a competitive process and failed to ensure that the work done by the contractor met the technical standards.
The engineer, alongside his assistant, reportedly inflated the project cost by over Sh29.6 million with the probe revealing that the said contractor had submitted false documents to the county.
On March 21, a report was compiled and forwarded to the DPP with recommendations to charge the Public Works executive, the project engineers and the contractors.
A Kenya Revenue Authority clerk who demanded Sh2 million bribes from Infinity Benefits Limited to help write off tax arrears of Sh25.2 million is also under probe.
The KRA officer received Sh200,000 bribe from the complainant which was recovered upon his arrest following a trap operation.
A Kirinyanga county Finance Chief Officer is also under probe for awarding several multimillion contracts to a company owned by his brother’s wife and children.
The tenders for the construction of Riagicheru, Mwea Makima, and South Ngariama water projects were handed to Eva Trading Agencies. South Ngariama project was worth Sh11.9 million.
Investigations, however, revealed that the company which was awarded the contract is related to the Chief Officer of Finance and that the directors of the said company were his brother’s wife and children.
“Investigations revealed there was a conflict of interest by the Chief Officer because he approved the professional opinion, awarded the tender, signed the contract and approved payment to the said company,” EACC said.
It said the Chief Officer did not declare interest in the said contract.
The probe revealed Eva trading Agencies Limited presented a false AGPO Certificate in support of their bid. The tender was reserved for youth, women, and persons with disability.
The report shows that Homa Bay county officials are not off the hook yet on claims the county irregularly paid Sh200 million to an investor who was to build the Homa Bay Agricity.
Whereas EACC said its investigations revealed the county did not lose any money, the DPP on May 5 returned the file demanding further investigations.
A chairman of the Sotik NG-CDF committee is facing charges of irregularly allocating himself, committee members, and staff bursaries.
The unnamed officer received Sh50,000 from the bursary kitty and could be charged with conflict of interest should Haji approve the EACC recommendation in the case.
The Commission would institute recovery proceedings against all the Sotik NG-CDF Committee members and staff to recover the amounts they received in bursaries from the said CDF office.
Senior Kenya Wildlife Service officers are accused of irregularly procuring pre-fabricated staff houses at Lake Nakuru National Park at Sh34.9 million.
A probe unearthed that the amount quoted by Wood Products Limited – the contractor, was overpriced by the quantity surveyor, engineer, and the architect.
EACC wants administrative action taken against the officers even though financial investigations revealed no irregular flow of funds between the contractor and the officers.
Chiefs, headteachers and several police officers were probed for graft during the period under review with EACC saying it was waiting on DPP’s nod to prefer charges. BY THE STAR