Two Nairobi county officials sacked

What you need to know:

  • They are currently facing fraud charges in court.
  • EACC accuses Jimmy Kiamba of using his position to amass wealth.

Two senior Nairobi County officials who are facing fraud charges in court have been sacked.

The decision to dismiss Chief Finance Officer Jimmy Kiamba and Chief Accounting Officer Stephen Osiro was reached after the two failed to convince the county government why it should retain them following corruption charges levelled against them by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The two, who had been suspended, were charged with defrauding their employer of millions of shillings in shady procurement deals.

Three other top officials are also facing corruption charges but were not in the list of those who were sacked.

They are County Secretary Lilian Ndegwa, County Head of Budgeting Nancy Waithera and Regina Chepkemoi.

FRAUDULENT DEALS

The EACC also went to court seeking orders to freeze Mr Kiamba’s assets for six months to pave way for further investigations into his vast estate. But the orders were lifted and the anti-graft body has moved to court again seeking to have the orders reinstated.

In their investigations, the EACC said they established Mr Kiamba owned a vast commercial empire despite officially receiving a monthly salary of Sh85,000.

He is said to own two maisonettes in South C, a luxurious house in Kileleshwa, four apartments in Kilimani and eight plots of land in Muthaiga, Mavoko and Machakos.

Mr Kiamba is also said to own a fleet of six cars.

The anti-graft watchdog believes he acquired the property through fraudulent deals by using his position at City Hall.

Mr Kiamba has challenged the EACC’s application saying that the property is registered to Jimise Limited and his wife, Tracy Mbinya Musau, and charged to Equity Bank for loans that are still being repaid.

Freezing the assets, he argues, would expose his wife, Jimise and Equity to losses and they are not parties to the suit.

SHOW CAUSE

According to a letter dated July 13 and signed by the acting County Secretary Gregory Mwakanongo on behalf of Governor Evans Kidero, Mr Kiamba had on July 3 been asked to show cause why he should not be sacked following the corruption allegations.

“The county government has considered your responses to the issues raised at great length and has found these responses to be grossly unsatisfactory,” reads the letter, which is copied to the chairman of County Public Service Board and County Executive Committee member of Public Service Management.

A similar letter with the same wording has been written to Mr Osiro and signed by Philip Kungu, the chairperson of the County Public Service Board.

The two letters state that the officials failed to perform their duties, compelling the county government to terminate their employment as from Monday.

They will, however, be paid for the days they have worked for the county government.