A former employee of Homa Bay County, Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno, has been ordered by the Milimani Anti-Corruption High Court to refund Sh708,664 she received in double salary payments. The court found that Ogweno received the additional payments between February 2015 and May 2018. Justice Benjamin Musyoki, who presided over the case, stated that the payments were irregular and ought to be restituted.
According to the court's findings, Ogweno received the excess payments through her bank account during the period in question. The Economic and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had sued Ogweno and three former county payroll officials seeking recovery of the money. Investigations by the EACC established that Ogweno received double salaries, prompting the court to order her to refund the money.
The court further found that Ogweno had acknowledged receiving the excess money after she sent an email undertaking to repay it in instalments of Sh10,000 per month. However, the repayment promise was never honoured, according to evidence presented in court. The judge held Ogweno liable for the Sh708,664 illegal earnings.
The case arose from investigations into alleged multiple salary payments to employees and former employees of Homa Bay County Government. The EACC told the court that its investigations established that Ogweno received double salaries through her bank account during the period in question. However, the judge dismissed the claim against two of the former payroll officials.
The judge noted that Homa Bay County operated two payroll systems, a manual system and the Integrated Payroll and Personal Data (IPPD) system, which made it difficult to detect duplicate payments. According to the judge, the manual payroll system enabled the irregular payments. The judge said the evidence did not establish that county official Solomon Ochogo directed or approved the disputed payments.
Justice Musyoki stated that the evidence established that Ogweno received Sh708,664 in excess payments, which remained recoverable regardless of whether they were obtained deliberately or through an error. The judge emphasized that what mattered was that she received payments from the government which she was neither entitled to nor had earned.
The decision was made after the EACC had proved that Ogweno received Sh708,664 in double salary payments she was neither entitled to nor had earned. With this ruling, Ogweno is required to refund the money to the government. The court also made a declaration that the additional salary payments received by Ogweno were irregular and ought to be restituted.
Key points
- A former Homa Bay County employee has been ordered to refund Sh708,664 in irregular salary payments.
- The court found that the employee, Evelyne Adhiambo Ogweno, received double salaries between February 2015 and May 2018.
- Ogweno had previously acknowledged receiving the excess money and had promised to repay it in instalments, but never honoured the promise.
