A tribunal of the government institutions has surcharged a former Permanent Secretary in the former President Mwai Kibaki’s administration Sh150,000 bonus he awarded himself illegally while in office.
A ruling by the State Corporations Appeal Tribunal last month found that former Permanent Secretary Eng. Carey Orege, who once served on the Board of the Coast Development Authority (CDA), was awarded Sh150,000 bonus by the board in November 2012.
In 2020, a report by the National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee (PIC) flagged this and similar payments as irregular, citing the CDA’s underperformance at the time.
The Inspector-General of the State Corporations (IGC), acting on the PIC report, issued a surcharge certificate to Orege in November 2024, demanding the return of the bonus.
The Inspector-General of the State Corporations picked the recommendations and undertook investigations under the powers provided to it under section 18 of the State Corporations Act.
On November 18, 2024, the James Warui-led Inspector General’s office issued a surcharge certificate against Orege under the Certificate of Surcharge No. SUR/CDA/002/2024.
Orege appealed the surcharge at the Tribunal on the December 13, 2024.
He argued that the action violated his rights to fair administrative action, was retroactively punitive, and that he had no direct influence over the board’s decision to issue the bonus.
His legal submissions were formally lodged on April 3, 2025.
However, the Inspector-General’s office maintained that the appeal was time-barred, contending that it was filed two days past the 30-day legal deadline, which expired on December 18, 2024.
Furthermore, IGC argued that Orege’s rights were not infringed, and the surcharge was lawfully imposed under the State Corporations Act.
The Tribunal in its ruling noted that on November 29, 2012, the Board of CDA resolved to pay bonuses to staff and Board members, and as a consequence, the Board paid Orege Sh150,000 in his capacity as the PS for the Ministry of Regional Services, a Board member.
In a ruling that underscores the importance of procedural timelines in legal proceedings, the Tribunal struck out an appeal filed by the former Permanent Secretary over a surcharge certificate issued by the IGC.
The Tribunal narrowed its focus to the central issue of timeliness, ruling that the appeal was filed out of time and, crucially, that no request for extension had been made.
Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal on procedural grounds, without delving into the substantive questions of fairness or the justification for the surcharge.
“This appeal was fatally defective,” the Tribunal declared, reinforcing the necessity of adhering strictly to legal timelines in administrative proceedings.
The Tribunal ordered that each party bear its costs.
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