MCAs under probe in trips scam

What you need to know:

  • “We drafted new regulations that will define several aspects of the leadership and integrity clauses of the Constitution. We will know to what extent a public officer has to be politically neutral,” said Mr Matemu.

The anti-graft agency is investigating county assembly members and some State officers who faked foreign trips to receive travel allowances.

“We are not saying that travelling is bad. Our concern is whether these trips were in accordance with the Constitution and if the money was prudently used,” Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chairman Mumo Matemu told the Nation on Sunday.

Auditors from the commission have already been sent to various counties to check the travel documents.
The agency has also opened files for the county representatives to be investigated for receiving allowances irregularly.

Besides the anti-corruption agency, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission is also conducting an audit of each county to establish the exact amounts that have been spent in foreign travel allowances.

On completion of the investigations, EACC will forward its findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko, to press charges against the implicated officers.
Mr Matemu said the investigations sought to unearth the truth behind the foreign trips, which have gobbled up billions of taxpayers’ money.

“We have had cases of MCAs who received allowances but never travelled. Others received allowances and were away for less than the required number of days. We want to ascertain how many people travelled overseas and for how many days, and whether what they spent was justified,” he said.

The Nation has also learnt that MCAs were not the only targets but also all public officers, whose investigations would be launched after Parliament passes a new code of conduct drafted by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution and EACC.

The new code will clarify whether those engaged in more than one job are in breach of the law or not.

It will also give EACC powers to investigate those in possession of foreign accounts and state whether they are in breach of the law.

New regulations

“We drafted new regulations that will define several aspects of the leadership and integrity clauses of the Constitution. We will know to what extent a public officer has to be politically neutral,” said Mr Matemu.

County representatives have been accused of being on a spending spree.

Mr Matemu said EACC was not interfering with the autonomy of counties by conducting the investigations but was carrying out its duty under Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity.

The agency has written to all MCAs, asking them to adhere to the leadership and integrity code.