Police probing fraud say City Hall loses Sh4 million every day

NAIROBI, KENYA: A team appointed to investigate claims of fraud at City Hall says reports show that up to Sh4 million is lost daily.

The team of detectives from the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations was at various departments at City Hall yesterday perusing documents.

The officers talked to a number of workers, especially in the cash office, to understand channels used in collecting revenue. They had last week visited the offices of Jambo Pay, the company charged with collecting revenue for the county, to understand the flow of money.

Officials aware of the probe said the investigators had uncovered massive fraud, with up to Sh4 million being stolen daily.

"The fraud there is of a high grade. Workers pocket money with impunity," said one source who asked not to be named.

Direct pay

The team has up to September 22 to complete its investigation and charge the culprits in court.

Governor Mike Sonko said revenue had increased to Sh14 million from Sh7 million. He added that he and a few members of the county assembly had camped at the cash office on Monday and instructed taxpayers to pay directly to the bank in case there was a system failure.

"We have managed to collect a record Sh38.2 million. This is only from the 14 revenue streams that have been digitised, out of 136 streams."

He said 2,061 vehicles parked in Nairobi without paying parking fees or colluded with some corrupt parking attendants not to pay the county. Last week, seven City Hall workers were arrested and presented in court over claims of corruption after Sonko found Sh7 million in the cash office.

In court

Resident Magistrate Sinkiyian Tobiko released the officials - Reuben Njuguna Gachukia, Luke Mugo Gatumu, Maurice Okere Ochieng, Nixon Otieno Awuor, Shaban Asman, Bedan Ndegwa Wambui, and Chrispine Otieno Oyiro - on a Sh50,000 cash bail pending the completion of investigations.

The seven are chief cashier, finance officer, head of treasury, head of revenue, second in charge of revenue, in-charge bank reconciliations, and assistant cashier respectively.

They are likely to be charged with abuse of office because they failed to bank the daily collection on August 22.

The court heard that the investigating team had yet to recover revenue collection books, banking record books, banking slips, and computers from the respondents.

Sonko read the riot act to officers after he found the Sh7m in a drawer in the cash office last Wednesday.