EACC chairperson David Oginde urged accountants to uphold integrity at ICPAK’s annual seminar in Mombasa.
EACC chairperson David Oginde urges accountants to reject financial manipulation as ICPAK pledges closer cooperation on integrity.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) warns accountants against using their professional skills to enable corruption. Chairperson David Oginde said specialised knowledge can help conceal economic crimes and complicate investigations.
Oginde addressed delegates at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) Annual Seminar in Mombasa on Friday, November 13. He urged accountants to protect financial accountability rather than use their positions to support wrongdoing.
He also challenged professionals to reject opportunities that could undermine their independence and ethical standards. Oginde stressed that personal choices, rather than enforcement alone, determine whether individuals act with integrity.
EACC warns accountants as ICPAK pledges cooperation
Oginde pointed to accountants who refuse to alter financial figures as examples of ethical conduct. Similarly, he highlighted auditors who stand by uncomfortable findings despite the challenges those findings may present.
He also urged Kenyans to speak out when they encounter corruption, warning that silence allows misconduct to continue. Professionals should therefore show courage in confronting wrongdoing, regardless of who is involved, he said.
Meanwhile, ICPAK Chairperson Professor Elizabeth Kalunda reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to working with the anti-corruption commission. She said the professional body would not offer protection to members involved in corruption.
Kalunda also pledged to present a report at the institute’s next summit. The report would address members’ progress in promoting integrity and accountability.
Recent cases involving accountants
The warning follows EACC’s recovery of assets worth Ksh207.7 million belonging to former Trans Nzoia County accountant Andrew Biketi Musuya. In October, High Court Justice Rose Ougo ordered their forfeiture to the government over unexplained wealth.
Ougo found that Musuya had not satisfactorily explained the gap between his assets and his known legitimate income. The assets included two five-storey apartment blocks and a five-bedroom townhouse in Mtwapa.
They also included undeveloped land in Mombasa, Kilifi and Bungoma, alongside bank funds, mobile money balances and vehicles.
In a separate October case, the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court convicted a former Nuclear Power and Energy Agency accountant. The former employee admitted using forged academic documents to obtain employment at the State corporation.
The court imposed a Ksh130,000 fine after the employee faced three charges. These concerned forgery, presenting a fraudulent certificate and using a false document.
