This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
Since 2013, Homa Bay county government has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals that have seen the county lose millions of shillings. Residents are now demanding urgent legal action against those responsible.
At the center of the controversy are Governor Cyprian Awiti and his county executive committee member for water and environment services, Oruko Nyawinda. They have been widely criticized for failing to tackle the graft and other scandals, particularly in the water and environment services department.
According to sources familiar with the county government operations, money released to the county coffers from the National Treasury for water projects often ends up in individuals' pockets. This has resulted in the failure of several development projects, particularly water supply services.
Several cases are currently under investigation, including the Nyandiwa Water Supply Community Project, Nyalkinyi Community Water Project, and others. The corruption scams have reportedly been happening under the watch of the county chief officers, including Nyawinda, who is claimed to be in the pocket of many contractors and power brokers.
Nyawinda, a lawyer, has been cornered to explain the whereabouts of Sh47 million allocated to six community water development projects. A report by the county assembly's committee on water and environment, dated April 11, 2016, revealed that none of the payment vouchers for the Nyandiwa Water Supply project could be traced. The contractor of the project, Daladala Investment Ltd, was confirmed to be closely related to Nyawinda, a former Mombasa lawyer whose name was once deregistered from the Law Society of Kenya.
