Five former Homa Bay county Assembly officials who were convicted for misappropriation of public funds have been fined a total of Sh59.04 million.
The five were found guilty for embezzling Sh27.8 million in a Homa Bay anti-corruption Court by Senior Principal Magistrate Thomas Obutu.
They include former County Assembly Clerk Bob Kephas Otieno, Caroline Chepkemoi Sang (former principal finance officer), Maurice Odiwuor Amek (former principal accountant), Michael Owino Ooro (former majority leader), and Isaac Ouso Nyandege (former minority leader).
They had been accused alongside former member of the county assembly service board, Judith Akinyi Omogi and former senior accounts controller Edwin Omondi Okello.
However, Omogi and Okello were acquitted after the Directorate of Public Prosecutions failed to find evidence that they were involved in the graft.
The five will serve six years in jail if they fail to pay their respective fines for each of the ten counts they faced.
“Their jail terms will run concurrently,” Obutu said.
They were charged after being arrested by detectives from Ethics and Anti-Corruption in 2018.
Kephas was fined Sh10.3 million, Sang Sh16,124,278 while Amek was fined Sh16,124,278.
Ooro Sh9,996,000 while Nyandege was fined Sh7.5 million.
In the first count, each of them was charged with conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption and fined Sh500,000 or three years’ imprisonment.
In the second count, Kephas was found guilty of misusing Sh4.3m and was fined Sh8.6 million.
In the third count, Sang was convicted of misappropriating Sh7.21 million and was fined Sh14.42 million.
Amek was charged in the fourth count where he was convicted of misappropriating Sh7.21 million and was fined Sh14.42 million.
Ooro was convicted of misappropriating Sh4.24 million and fined Sh8.4 million or a jail term of six years.
In count six, Nyandege was convicted of embezzling Sh3.5 million or a jail term of five years.
Kephas, Sang and Amek were also charged with four more counts of abuse of office in which each of them was fined Sh300,000 for each count or a jail term of three years for each count.
Obutu ruled that each will serve six except Nyandege who will serve a jail term of five years.
In the judgement, Obutu also barred the five from holding any public office in the next 10 years.
This removes Nyandege out of Homa Bay West ward race where he was cleared by IEBC to contest on an ODM ticket.
“None of the convicts will be elected or appointed for a public office,” Obutu said.
The five were taken to Homa Bay Prison as they have 14 days to appeal.
