Financial scandals in Kenyan banks keep raising deep concerns about the integrity of both institutions and the people they trust to handle huge amounts of money.
The latest case in Kisii has once again placed NCBA Bank under uncomfortable scrutiny after one of its own senior employees was dragged to court over shocking claims of theft.
Questions are already being asked about how a manager could allegedly move more than Ksh.52 million under the bank’s watch without being stopped in time.
Such incidents not only taint the bank’s image but also shake the confidence of customers who expect their money to be safe.
At the centre of the case is Philip Rotich Kiprono, an operations manager at NCBA’s Kisii branch, who now faces 134 criminal charges.
According to the charge sheet presented in court, Kiprono is accused of siphoning a staggering Ksh.52,404,084.95 between December 2022 and October 2024.
The allegations cut across multiple offences including theft by servant, acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime, use of proceeds of crime, forgery, and uttering false documents.
These accusations paint a disturbing picture of systematic wrongdoing, if proven true, carried out by someone trusted to oversee sensitive financial operations.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been categorical in pushing for accountability.
Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Solomon Njeru, urged the court to demand the suspect’s physical presence during plea-taking, underscoring the seriousness of the matter.
Senior Principal Magistrate Benard Obae Omwansa heeded that call and ordered Kiprono to appear in person on October 2 to answer to the charges.
If convicted, the penalties will be severe, including jail terms and recovery of the stolen funds.
Beyond the individual’s alleged crimes, this scandal exposes a troubling weakness within NCBA Bank’s internal controls.
How does a financial institution of such size fail to detect suspicious movements of funds until the losses amount to over fifty-two million shillings?
While Kiprono will have to fight the accusations in court, NCBA cannot escape its share of blame for allowing a loophole that may have enabled such acts to happen.
NCBA bank branch. Photo Courtesy
Customers entrust their life savings and businesses to banks, expecting honesty and security, but cases like this suggest that not even the employees entrusted with oversight can be fully trusted without strict accountability systems in place.
The Kisii case is therefore more than just one man on trial. It is a sharp warning to NCBA and the entire banking sector that negligence or weak supervision opens the door to massive fraud.
For customers, the question remains whether their money is truly safe, or just one dishonest employee away from vanishing.
