Senior county officials are behind a growing wave of corruption involving fake imprest payments facilitated through interns and junior staff, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has revealed, warning that anyone involved will face personal liability.

The Commission, through a statement delivered on Tuesday by Western Region Manager Eric Ngumbi, said senior officers in devolved governments are using proxies within county offices to create fraudulent financial documents and embezzle funds.

The statement was issued during the opening of a three-day integrity workshop in Kisumu, attended by top officials from Bungoma County.

EACC Chief Executive Officer Abdi Mohamud, in the statement read by Ngumbi, said the fraud becomes more aggressive toward the end of financial years, with many counties rushing to deplete their budgets through illegal schemes.

“The Commission remains vigilant and reminds all accounting officers of their responsibility to ensure compliance with financial management laws. Any person found to have made or facilitated irregular or unlawful payments will be held personally liable,” the statement read in part.

Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, who attended the event, acknowledged existing loopholes in the county system and promised new measures to tighten control over public funds. He said the county is working on digitizing revenue collection to boost accountability and limit human interference.

“I have always insisted that imprests must be paid to the account of whoever is undertaking the assignment, and that person must account for it afterwards,” Lusaka said.

While affirming support for the anti-graft war, Lusaka also urged the Commission to avoid heavy-handed methods and ensure investigations are professional and lawful. He raised concerns over the manner in which some governors have been handled during arrests.

“What we mostly have an issue with is how the summons are carried out. As a governor, it’s highly unlikely that I would run away, yet the same procedure is applied across the board,” Lusaka remarked.

His comments come just weeks after an EACC operation in Trans Nzoia ended in chaos, with Commission vehicles torched during the arrest of Governor George Natembeya — an incident that has sparked national debate over EACC’s approach.

In response, Ngumbi dismissed claims of bias, saying the agency does not discriminate when it comes to tackling corruption.

He pointed to several court cases against more than 10 governors as proof that the Commission acts purely on the strength of evidence.

“EACC is only guided by the law and evidence — that is what directs our actions. If you look at the current court cases involving over 10 governors, they cut across the board. We do not pursue anyone based on religious or political affiliations,” he said.

Ngumbi also called on all counties to review their internal systems and stop shielding senior officials who use junior staff to siphon public money. He said the Commission has observed a pattern where interns and low-ranking officers are assigned transactions and later abandoned when investigations begin.

The Kisumu meeting brought together senior county executives, integrity officers, and anti-corruption stakeholders in an effort to strengthen preventive strategies and ensure public money is used properly. The Commission said it will intensify monitoring during the final weeks of the financial year, when fraudulent activity tends to spike.