The High Court of Kenya has ruled that Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno, a former employee of Homa Bay County Government, must refund Ksh.708,664 in irregular salary payments she received between February 2015 and May 2018. The court found that Ogweno received additional payments through her bank account, which were not entitled to her. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had sued Ogweno and three former county payroll officials over alleged multiple salary payments to employees and former employees of the county government.
According to the court, Ogweno was initially appointed as a registered community health nurse in 2013 and later appointed by the government as a nurse in January 2014. Her basic salary at entry level was Ksh.19,323, with a maximum of Ksh.24,662.00, subject to annual increments. The EACC relied on bank statements and other documents to establish the payments made to Ogweno. The court also considered an email from Ogweno in which she undertook to repay the excess money in monthly instalments of Ksh.10,000.
The court found that two payroll systems, a manual system and the Integrated Payroll and Personal Data (IPPD) system, were operating concurrently. Evidence before the court indicated that the double payments were linked to the manual payroll system. The judge ruled that the money was not owed to Ogweno and was therefore irregular and recoverable, regardless of whether the payments were fraudulent, deliberate or resulted from an error.
The court ordered Ogweno and the fourth defendant in the case to jointly and severally refund the money to the government. The EACC had claimed that Ogweno and three former county payroll officials were responsible for the irregular payments. However, the court dismissed the EACC's claim against the second and third defendants, finding that the Commission had not sufficiently proved that they authorised or facilitated the irregular payments.
The judge, Justice Benjamin Mwikya Musyoki, said the undertaking by Ogweno to repay the excess money amounted to an acknowledgement that she had received the excess payments. The court declared the Ksh.708,664 in additional salary payments irregular and ordered Ogweno and the fourth defendant to jointly and severally pay the amount, with interest at court rates from the date the suit was filed until payment in full.
The EACC's case against Ogweno and the former county payroll officials was based on investigations into alleged multiple salary payments to employees and former employees of the county government. The Commission relied on bank statements and other documents to establish the payments made to Ogweno. The court's decision was delivered on September 18, 2026.
The court also ordered Ogweno and the fourth defendant to cover EACC’s costs of the suit. The claims against the second and third defendants were dismissed, and EACC was ordered to cover their suit costs. The EACC to recover Ksh.708,664 from ex-county official who received double salary.
Key points
- The High Court has ordered the recovery of Ksh.708,664 paid irregularly to a former Homa Bay County Government employee.
- Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno received additional salary payments from the county government between February 2015 and May 2018.
- The court ordered Ogweno and the fourth defendant to jointly and severally refund the money to the government.
