Wavinya suspends 33 officers in graft purge

Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti. [File, Standard]

At least 33 Machakos county government workers drawn from various departments have been suspended as Governor Wavinya Ndeti's renewed efforts to tame runaway corruption.

Speaking in a press conference in Machakos Town, the governor said her administration had forwarded the names of the affected officers to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for further probe and prosecution.

The affected departments include administration, trade, liquor, solid waste, ICT, billing and revenue.

The governor lamented that corrupt practices within the ranks of her county administration were clawing back the measures her government had put in place to improve service delivery and drive her development agenda.

"The alarming instances of corruption involving public servants entrusted with the welfare of our county not only betray public trust but also undermine the integrity of our institutions and the principles of transparency and accountability," she said.

She conceded that a clique of rogue employees stationed in the identified departments had been colluding with members of the public to defraud the county department despite the existence of an automated system of revenue management.

"Despite existing policies and controls, fraudulent activities continue to manifest in revenue collection. The fraudulent activities include under reporting of collected fees, diversion of funds, issuing of fake receipts and permits among others," she said

She went on, "While the county has invested heavily in digitization and revenue collection system, it is quite unfortunate that some public servants continue to collude with members of the public to generate permits through illegal means."

Wavinya urged the public to support her fight against corruption by reporting suspicious activities. "We must protect whistleblowers and not punish them and I urge members of the public to support me. It is a fight we must win, we must stop the culture of corruption," she said.