Two Former West Pokot County Officials To Be Charged With Embezzlement Of Bursary Funds
By Emmanuel Oyasi,
Two former county officials of West Pokot County are expected to be arraigned before the anti-corruption court on Tuesday to answer corruption charges relating to the theft of public funds amounting to Ksh 296 million in the County Government of West Pokot during the period between Financial Years 2017/2018 and 2021/2022.
The two suspects Ms. Mary Ngoriakes, the former Chief Officer of Education, and Mr. Mathew Arusio, the former County Director of Bursary were arrested on Monday by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officials.
The two are among the four suspects who were being investigated by EACC after receiving complaints that senior officials in the county government used fraudulent schemes leading to the embezzlement of Ksh 212 million from the County Bursary, Education, and Infrastructure Fund.
However, upon investigations, EACC revealed that the embezzled amount was Ksh296 million which had been set aside for the provision of bursary to support needy students in the County.
“The two suspects are to be arraigned before the anticorruption court in Eldoret with various corruption charges amounting to Ksh 296 Million in the county Government of West Pokot,” said the EACC spokesperson Eric Ngumbi.
The commission’s investigations further revealed that the County Bursary, Education Development and Infrastructure Committee (CBC) was never established, but the members however assumed the role of CBC members.
The officials were involved in irregular cash withdrawals and prepared fake minutes for meetings that never took place.
Two other suspects Simon Kodomuk and Francis Tikol who are in hiding have been asked to surrender at the EACC office in Eldoret on Tuesday to be arraigned in court.
“There are two more suspects yet to be arrested and therefore the commission hereby directs them to immediately report to EACC North Rift regional offices in Eldoret not later than Tuesday,” he added.