EACC asked to investigate current County Assembly Service Board

Elected MCAs address journalists at Homa Bay County Assembly. The MCAs want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the current leadership of the County Assembly. [James Omoro, Standard]

Elected Members of the County Assembly now want the anti-graft commission to investigate the County Assembly Service Board over alleged corruption.

More than 30 members of the county assembly convened a press briefing on Friday during which they called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to extend its investigations from the 2016-2017 budget to this year's fiscal statement.

Led by Deputy Speaker Evans Marieba, Paul Wamunga (North Karachuonyo), Julius Gaya (Central Karachuonyo), Walter Muok (Kanyadoto) and Dan Were (Kakelo Kokwanyo), the MCAs said they were not ready to tolerate the mismanagement of funds in the House.

“The information on corruption is embarrassing this assembly. Let the EACC investigate the current House leadership and extend the investigations to the current financial year,” Mr Gaya said.

In a statement read on their behalf by Mr Wamunga, the MCAs said they had lost hope in the county assembly's leadership.

They called on Speaker Elizabeth Ayoo to convene a special session to enable them to make an official decision on how to address the matter.

Mr Muok said the EACC should weed out corrupt officials to enable the MCAs to better discharge their duties.

“We want this assembly to be clean because it is the one in charge of oversight role in this county,” Muok said.

The MCAs spoke after Senior Principal Magistrate Thomas Obuto ordered the arrest of County Assembly Clerk Bob Kephas and Senior Accounts Controller Maurice Amek.

The two, who are accused of embezzling Sh27.8 million in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 financial years, disappeared on Thursday to evade arrest by EACC officers.