High Court Orders Former Homa Bay Clerk and Couple to Repay KSh12.57 Million

Justice Benjamin Musyoki of the High Court ordered former Homa Bay County Assembly clerk Bob Otieno, together with Lilian Aloo and her husband David Obonyo, to jointly refund KSh12,571,166.50 in public funds.

The judgment, delivered on October 16, 2026, required the three defendants to pay the full amount with interest at court rates from the date the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) filed its suit, and to cover the commission’s legal costs.

The EACC had initiated recovery proceedings on April 11, 2022, alleging that the money had been transferred from the Assembly’s salary suspense account to a joint Equity Bank account between December 24, 2015 and December 22, 2017.

Investigators traced the transfers through an Equity Bank suspense account and noted that the joint account, dormant since 2006, began receiving large sums in 2015, which the husband later withdrew.

Aloo, a teacher employed by the Teachers Service Commission, was not on the Assembly payroll, while Obonyo worked as Business Growth and Development Manager at Equity Bank’s Homa Bay branch; both denied being employees or contractors of the county government.

The commission presented twelve witnesses, including procurement, human-resource and finance officials, bank representatives and forensic investigators, but found no invoices, tender documents, evaluation minutes or payment records in the Integrated Financial Management Information System to support the payments.

The court noted that documents accounted for only KSh7,106,890 of the total, leaving KSh5,464,276.50 unexplained, and quoted the judge: “In that regard, even if I were to accept that the payments in question went to the alleged services, the Defendants have not explained the difference of KSh5,464,276.50.”

Justice Musyoki also stated that “The existence of a contract is not proof of work done” and added that “It cannot be normal when public coffers are being emptied and depleted to pockets of individuals when the public did not receive commensurate services or benefits for the same.”

Citing Article 226(5) of the Constitution, Section 203(1)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act and Section 51 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, the judge held Otieno, as the Assembly’s accounting officer, personally liable for the loss caused by corrupt and fraudulent conduct.

The final orders required the defendants to repay the KSh12,571,166.50 jointly and severally, with accrued interest, and to pay the EACC’s costs; the judgment was pronounced at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi in the presence of EACC counsel, while Aloo and her husband were absent.