This archive report was first published on 24 July 2019.
On July 24, 2019, a Nairobi judge delivered a significant ruling in favor of the city's residents, ordering a former Chief Finance Officer at City Hall, Jimmy Kiamba, to repay Sh317 million.
The court found that Mr. Kiamba could not explain the source of the funds, which were deposited into his accounts between January and November 2014.
Justice Hedwig Ong'udi ordered Mr. Kiamba to pay the government an additional Sh35 million, failing which a house in Runda Water Estate would be forfeited to the government.
According to the court, the EACC had established that six cash deposits totaling Sh317,648,604 constituted unexplained assets.
Mr. Kiamba had claimed that the money was from revenue derived from the sale of cattle, wheat, transport, and quarry business, as well as the sale of some properties.
However, the judge noted that it was impossible to verify the amount injected into the transport business, and therefore, the house he allegedly bought for Sh35 million fell under the category of unexplained assets.
The court was told that the EACC had examined Mr. Kiamba's eleven accounts in eight banks and obtained bank statements for all the accounts, comparing the amounts deposited and his salary.
It was concluded that the amounts could not have been from his salary and investments he claimed to have.
The EACC suspected that Mr. Kiamba stole public funds from City Hall, as he deposited more than Sh400 million between January and November 2014, despite earning just Sh85,000 monthly as City Hall CFO.
A few years later, his gross salary had risen to Sh1.09 million, and rental flats from the property in Athi River would get him Sh2.7 million every month.
Evidence showed that he used several persons at City Hall to make deposits in his accounts, including Mr. Joseph Njoroge, who worked at the City Hall's Treasury, and Mr. Stephen Osiro, a former head of treasury.
