NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 31 – Former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker and Freedom and Opportunity Party (FOP) presidential aspirant Onyango Oloo has claimed that up to 70 per cent of pending bills owed by county governments are fraudulent, alleging widespread collusion between governors and county assemblies to siphon public funds.Speaking in Kisumu, Oloo said the recent Senate scrutiny of pending bills in Kisumu County had exposed what he described as a systemic corruption scheme replicated across many devolved units.“I want to assure Kenyans that 70 per cent of those pending bills are fake and fraudulent,” Oloo said on Friday.“That is the reason the county government could never provide a comprehensive, itemised list for public scrutiny.”The former Speaker, who was impeached in 2019, said he had previously pushed for a detailed audit of Kisumu County’s pending bills, including the contractors involved, project status and payment records, but alleged the effort ultimately cost him his job.According to Oloo, genuine contractors have increasingly been edged out by politically connected beneficiaries, with county governments allegedly using pending bills to channel public funds through fictitious or inflated claims.He further alleged that many of the remaining legitimate claims belonged to businesses linked to Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), accusing ward representatives of abandoning their constitutional oversight role in exchange for financial benefits.“It is a conspiracy between the executive and the assembly that they eat the people’s money, and in exchange the assembly has surrendered its oversight role,” he said.Oloo urged the national government to subject all pending bills to independent verification before any payments are made, arguing that only legitimate contractors should be compensated while fraudulent claims should trigger criminal investigations.He proposed the enactment of a Social Audit Act that would allow members of the public to monitor government projects and verify whether contracted works had been completed before payments are approved.“There is need for the national government to come up with a Social Audit Act so that everybody… is able to contribute and comment on each and every contract ongoing in the country,” he said.The FOP leader also criticised the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), accusing the agency of failing to effectively investigate and prosecute corruption despite numerous public complaints.“If they are unable to secure convictions based on the corruption levels in this country, then it is high time Kenyans call for the disbandment of EACC,” he said.Oloo said that if elected president in 2027, his administration would audit county expenditure dating back to the inception of devolution and use beneficial ownership records to identify public officials hiding behind companies awarded county contracts.He also reaffirmed his intention to contest the presidency under the Freedom and Opportunity Party, saying the party is awaiting its final registration certificate from the Registrar of Political Parties.“I am going to run for the office of the President of the Republic of Kenya under the Freedom and Opportunity Party. If they block FOP, we will come through other parties. They will still find my name on the ballot,” he said.The remarks come as the Senate intensifies scrutiny of county pending bills amid growing concerns over the accumulation of unpaid claims, the authenticity of some invoices and the impact of delayed payments on businesses supplying goods and services to county governments.