The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has uncovered a scheme in which top county government officials exploit students on attachment as unwitting conduits for corruption.
According to the commission, the officials use junior employees and the interns to register shell companies through which public funds intended for legitimate development projects are diverted and subsequently withdrawn for illicit purposes.
In a speech delivered on behalf of EACC Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamud by Mr Eric Ngumbi – the commission’s Western Region Manager – it was revealed that the students are used to shield true beneficiaries of corruption while they become principal suspects and persons of interest.
“We are witnessing an emerging and deeply troubling trend where senior county officials, including executive committee members, are increasingly using young people as channels through which public funds are looted,” Mr Mohamud said.
“Students are being exploited to register proxy companies that then receive funds meant for genuine suppliers and contractors.”
He added that the learners, many of whom may not be aware of the legal and moral implications of their involvement in the illicit deals, are also used to withdraw funds through fictitious imprests on behalf of the corrupt officials.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Western Region Manager Eric Ngumbi during a workshop in Kisumu on June 24, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo| Nation Media Group
Secretaries of senior county government officers are in the scheme too, he said.
An imprest is money advanced to an individual or department for a specific purpose, with the law requiring that the amount be properly accounted for.
It is typically used for travel or project implementation expenses and is expected to be reconciled with detailed financial reporting.
“Governors and other senior devolved government officials compel junior staff and students to apply for imprests of millions of shillings for non-existent services, withdraw the money in cash and then hand it over to their superiors,” the EACC boss added.
Mr Mohamud stressed that imprests should be issued directly to the accounts of individuals requiring them for legitimate purposes and not misused through intermediaries for corrupt ends.
“Junior employees must resist being used in this manner. When the time of reckoning comes, saying ‘I was instructed’ will not help. The anti-corruption laws will not exempt you from liability,” he said.
The revelations were made during the opening of a three-day integrity and anti-corruption training workshop for the senior leadership of the devolved government of Bungoma.
Mr Mohamud added that embezzlement of public funds and misuse of resources by state officers is a breach of ethics and betrayal of the oath of office.
He said it is betrayal of the very citizens whose welfare and future are entrusted to the state officers.
“Let’s not forget that corruption festers where leaders who have sworn to serve the people betray public trust and participate in the theft of state resources. It thrives where accountability is weak and impunity is tolerated,” he told the participants.
“Every shilling stolen denies a child an education, a mother medical care and a community its rightful development.”
Mr Mohamud issued a warning on the looming risk of heightened corruption towards the end of this financial year on June 30, 2025.
The commission, he said, is alert to the risk of fraudulent plans by some officials to misappropriate public funds through fictitious payments or the diversion of money intended for genuine suppliers often resulting in irregular or fabricated pending bills.
“The EACC remains vigilant. We remind county government accounting officers of their solemn duty to uphold the laws governing public finance management and to protect the funds entrusted to their stewardship,” Mr Mohamud said.
“Any individual found to have facilitated or authorised unlawful payments will be held accountable.”
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka said corruption in devolved governments has reached a point where it is openly negotiated.
He advised devolved governments to ensure imprests are paid directly to the accounts of the rightful applicants and are accounted for promptly as advised by the EACC.
“I urge county employees not to allow to be used as conduits for theft and corruption. Imprests must follow due process and be disbursed directly to those who have applied for specific services. Delays in accounting only serve to breed suspicion,” Governor Lusaka said.
He also highlighted another avenue of leakage in the loss of Own Source Revenue. Mr Lusaka said though collected at source, it is rarely remitted to the appropriate county accounts.
