Siaya County Deputy Governor, William Odoul, is expected to appear before the senate committee on charges of gross misconduct due to his Ksh 18 million ‘personal comfort’ expenditures at the expense of the taxpayer.
Through lawyer Willis Otieno, the Siaya county MCAs claimed that Oduol pushed the county to splash taxpayers’ money on personal comfort items which included a Presidential chair at a cost of Sh1. 12 million.
In footage seen on mainstream and social media on June 22, 2023, the senate committee members were seen testing and feeling the comfortability of the alleged orthopedic seat in turns. The seat had been ferried from the county as part of evidence against the Deputy Governor to be presented to the committee.
The Deputy Governor has been accused of causing the county government to spend Ksh. 18 million that was not budgeted for during his initial days in office. The allegations were presented by the Siaya County Assembly during the first hearing of impeachment proceedings before the Senate special committee led by William Kisang.
The Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), represented by lawyer Willis Otieno, claimed that Odoul pressured the county government to purchase a Presidential chair for him at a cost of Ksh. 1.12 million. They criticized the extravagance of such a purchase while highlighting the dire conditions faced by residents, including hunger and inadequate housing.
Otieno stated, “In a county where children are sleeping hungry, people are living in grass-thatched houses, we have a deputy governor hoisted in a presidential chair worth Ksh. 1.2 million, and signing on a presidential table worth Ksh. 1 million.” He added that they would demonstrate how the Ksh. 18 million could have been better utilized to benefit the people of Siaya County.
The lawyer also accused Odoul of interfering with the procurement process, which is against the Public Procurement Act, by attempting to influence the awarding of 86 road contracts. The county assembly further claimed that the deputy governor bullied county workers and tried to manipulate payment decisions, pressuring finance officers to favor specific contractors.
In response to the accusations, Odoul characterized himself as the “hunter that has become the hunted.” He asserted that his troubles began when he raised concerns about the withdrawal of large sums of money allocated for imprests. According to him, between October 2022 and January 2023, the county withdrew nearly Ksh. 100 million in imprests. He expressed his willingness to pay the ultimate price for the people of Siaya and urged attention to corruption issues at the county level, not just the national level.
Regarding the matter of the chair, Oduol has apportioned blame to the county’s procurement officer for authorizing the purchase of the chair in question and concurred that it was not worth the huge amount paid.
The Senate special committee has commenced the hearing of evidence from the county assembly, which has lined up four witnesses to testify against the deputy governor.
