The Busia County government has been described by senators as an “organised criminal enterprise”, with the administration of Governor Paul Otuoma unable to account for the use of public funds totalling over Sh200 million.
The Senate County Public Accounts Committee revealed the financial corruption in the border county, which is effectively operating on autopilot, with the governor unaware of the goings-on within his administration.
This comes at a time when the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating at least five instances of financial impropriety within the devolved unit.
These include the hiring of the governor’s lounge for Sh29.9 million, consultancy services for Busia County Referral Hospital, the irregular procurement of medical supplies and the irregular management of imprest worth over Sh35 million, as well as questionable pending bills worth more than Sh1.8 billion.
According to the anti-graft agency, the investigations are at different stages, with some nearing completion.
When he appeared before the committee chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang on Tuesday, Governor Otuoma presented himself as a county boss who was far removed from the running of the county government and unaware of the financial malpractices occurring within the devolved unit.
Busia Governor Paul Otuoma appears before a Senate committee in Nairobi, on September 15, 2025.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Even the county officers left to run the show could not help the first-term county chief, as every audit query raised by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu in the financial year ending June 30, 2024 unearthed damning irregularities.
“It seems you (governor) have trusted your officers too much but they are letting you down. Going by the constant consultations going on before you can respond to our questions, it appears you are interacting with these documents for the first time today,” said Kitui Senator Enock Wambua.
The committee heard that the county government paid Sh4.9 million as consultancy service to be advised on whether Busia County Referral Hospital should be a Level 5 facility at a time when the hospital had already been gazetted as a Level 5 facility.
The county government, however, insisted that there was value for money in the process as the hospital had only been registered as a Level 5 facility but had been scaled down and so was not operating at such a level. Hence, the need for the consultancy.
“How can you pay Sh4.9 million to get advice on whether a hospital should be a Level 4 or 5 facility when it is already a Level 5 facility? This looks like fiction to me,” said Senator Kajwang’. “We ask the EACC to take this matter too as part of their investigations because on the surface, this looks like a scam.”
A scrutiny of issues raised by the audit report revealed that several procurements were carried out for less than Sh5 million — most for Sh4.9 million — to circumvent the law.
“This affinity with Sh4.9 million is a smoking gun and should raise serious concern. The officers are playing with numbers to give room for monkey business,” said Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei.
Further, it was revealed that the county’s own source revenue potential stands at Sh2.2 billion excluding hospital fees, but it is only collecting Sh236 million.
Busia Chief Officer for Trade, Investment, Industrialization, Cooperatives, and SMEs Elijah Chessa Mwaro, Governor Paul Otuoma and County Secretary John Oscar Juma appear before a Senate committee in Nairobi, on September 15, 2025.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation
A scrutiny of the various revenue streams showed a drop in revenue collection which could not be accounted for.
For instance, revenue from physical planning dropped by 50 percent from Sh4.9 million to Sh2.5 million, parking fees from Sh31 million to Sh29 million and hospital fees from Sh153 million to Sh119 million.
“Are we collecting money from people and pocketing? Because these are the symptoms,” said Mr Kajwang’. “If you collect money from mama mboga, it should be visible. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”
Senator Cherargei described the situation as a “classic case of an organised criminal enterprise” to rip off the people of Busia who pay fees but cannot see where their money is going.
The county government could also not account for some Sh35 million spent on both domestic and foreign travels with the county officers unable to produce invitation letters, destinations visited, programmes attended, reports of such meetings, among other critical documents.
The county government spent Sh16.5 million in domestic expenditure without justification, with the county officers failing to provide documents 10 months after travelling.
There is also some Sh18.49 million spent on foreign travel without supporting documents, save for travel documents.
Interestingly, 80 percent of services for the travel expenses was given to a single firm with no justification why the single sourcing was done.
“This is not small money that we are talking about. The two queries on travel amount to more than Sh35 million,” said Mr Kajwang’.
“If recovery of the money cannot be done then investigations must be done and action taken on culpable individuals. If you don’t fire county officers involved in this racket, then we will be forced to send the relevant agencies to look into this matter.”
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said: “For such officers, you should not cover them because they make you look bad as the governor.”
The county government was also on the spot for having designated multiple receivers of revenue contrary to the law.
“Who then takes responsibility in case of a problem? This is a recipe for chaos and an indication of a criminal enterprise being run in the county government with the Finance CEC as the head,” said Mr Kajwang’.
The law states that a Finance CEC shall appoint a receiver of revenue in writing and cannot appoint themselves.
“Why do you guys want to personalise revenue collection? Mr Governor, do you feel money collected from the people of Busia is properly reported and accounted for?” asked Mr Kajwang’.
