Two public officers arrested for diversion of county revenue

24:01:2024: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption has arrested two officials of the Nairobi City County for involvement in diversion of county revenue.

Daniel Odidi Ganje, the officer in charge of data at St. Peter Cleavers Revenue offices in Starehe Sub-County, and John Gachagua Mburu, a student at a local university attached to the same office were apprehended on 18^th January.

They are accused of manipulating the Nairobi City County revenue portal to fraudulently reflect payments not made to the County. The two had asked a client who wanted to pay annual parking fees amounting to Kes 45,000 for his commercial vehicles to deposit the money into a private account belonging to a co-conspirator, John Gachagua. In exchange, he would be allowed to pay a lesser amount.

To confirm to the client that it was possible to help him escape full payment if he agreed to the deal, the suspects entered the registration details of his vehicles into the revenue portal, which indicated that he had paid. The client, who later reported the matter, was able to verify full-year payment in the portal without having deposited any amount.

Diversion of revenue is entrenched in several county governments, making the devolved units not meet their revenue targets. It is for this, among other factors, that some county governments are performing poorer than municipalities that existed before them.

The county officials were released today pending completion of investigations. Mr. Ganje was released on a cash bail of Kes50, 000 and his younger accomplice, on compellence. They will report to the Commission for further directions on 6^th February 2024.