Treasury Official Ordered to Refund KSh 67 Million She Pocketed in Illegal Allowances
- The High Court ordered Treasury official Faith Jematia Kiptis to refund KSh 67.6 million in unlawfully received allowances
- The court found that Kiptis received irregular payments and extraneous allowances without approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC)
- Justice Benjamin Musyoki ruled that Kiptis knowingly engaged in a fraudulent scheme and emphasised that SRC advisories are constitutionally binding under Article 230
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Elijah Ntongai, an editor at TUKO.co.ke, has over four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting experience, providing insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.
An official at the National Treasury and Planning, Faith Jematia Kiptis, has been ordered by the High Court to refund over KSh 67 million in unlawfully received allowances.
Source: Facebook
Justice Musyoki of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division found Kiptis guilty of fraudulently acquiring public funds between January 2020 and June 2022.
The judgment delivered on Monday, July 15, 2025, confirmed that the allowances were neither approved nor aligned with government policy, making them irregular and illegal.
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How much will the Treasury official refund?
The court ordered Kiptis to repay KSh 67.6 million, part of which will be recovered directly from her bank accounts, KSh 2.44 million from Equity Bank and KSh 6.32 million from KCB.
Additionally, she must pay interest on the full amount until it's recovered and bear the full cost of the suit that was filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
Why was Treasury official charged by the EACC?
The case stemmed from a 2023 investigation launched by the EACC after reports of embezzlement at the National Treasury.
EACC investigations revealed that Kiptis received various payments, ranging from taskforce, facilitation, and extraneous allowances to entertainment and unspecified benefits, in violation of the public sector compensation regulations.
According to court documents, some of the payments overlapped or fell outside her job group, lacked requisite approvals from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), or were not listed in any official manuals or government circulars.
Evidence showed that the payments flouted SRC’s binding advisories, including specific circulars issued in 2015 and 2021, both of which had warned against such irregular allowances.
In his ruling, Justice Benjamin Musyoki emphasised that the SRC's guidance under Article 230 of the Constitution is legally binding and that public institutions must comply before effecting any changes to compensation.
He noted that Kiptis had knowingly participated in a fraudulent scheme and unjustly enriched herself with taxpayer money.
The EACC hailed the decision as a milestone in its ongoing crackdown on financial misconduct within government institutions and noted that since February 2020, the commission has recovered over KSh 174 million in illicit payments made to National Treasury officials through court litigation and alternative dispute resolution.
Source: Facebook
EACC recovers KSh 400 million land
In other news, EACC successfully recovered public land worth over KSh 400 million in Nairobi’s Loresho area after the Environment and Land Court nullified all irregular titles linked to the 4.9-acre parcel.
The land, originally reserved for the Loresho Water Reservoir, had been illegally subdivided and allocated to private developers, including high-profile individuals and companies.
EACC investigations were sparked by a 2021 complaint from residents.
The EACC proved that the allocations violated land use regulations, prompting the court to rule the titles null and void and return the land to the government for its intended public use.
Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
