Money minting spree in Kenya is enshrined in almost all the government agencies. Most top legislatures depicting the how sticky their hands are in pocketing tax payers money.
Taxpayers could have lost up to Sh17 billion in an unexplained expenditure in some counties, Auditor General Edward Ouko has revealed in his latest report.
The money was spent on irregular payment for goods and services, double and irregular payment of staff allowances and irregular procurement.
The audit report for the financial year ended June 30, 2018 exposed shocking plunder and blatant theft of public funds in what would be the biggest scandal in the counties since the advent of devolution.
At least eight counties cannot account for an excess of Sh17 billion owing to irregular spending. They include Nakuru (11.2 billion), Migori (Sh2 billion), Tana River (Sh1.1 billion), Embu (Sh215 million) Mandera (Sh71.5 million), Murang’a (Sh110 million), Lamu (Sh77.5 million) and Busia (Sh3.4 billion worth of stalled projects.
Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) are implicated in the report, with most accused of blackmailing governors to approve payment of allowances for sessions and sitting held outside their jurisdictions.
In Embu, the auditor’s query focuses on millions of shillings spent on irregular payment of allowances during foreign trips.
In one instance, 53 people from both the county Executive and Assembly received imprests of Sh14 million to attend a seven-day county budget process course, induction and benchmarking in Tanzania.
“The supporting documents including copies of stamped passports, work tickets/boarding passes, signed attendance list and certificates of attendance were not made available for audit. No explanation was given as to why the county Executive facilitated the MCAs who were supposed to be catered for by Assembly. In addition, it was not clear why the induction was held in Arusha yet it would have happened in Embu,” the report reads in part.
In Nakuru, the report indicates the county government failed to account for an excess of Sh3.8 billion worth of assets and liabilities that were not supported by bank reconciliation statements.
In addition, 20 banks accounts with an aggregated balance of Sh3,659,901,738 had no cash books maintained and could, therefore, not be produced for verification.
An excess of Sh1.9 billion could not also be accounted for during the year under review.
The auditor also queried the unsupported construction of double unit market stalls in Molo, where a contractor was paid Sh3.8 billion for the stalls and ADC fence. There was no inspection and acceptance report for the work done.
In Migori, the Executive budgeted for the establishment of an FM radio and TV stations at a cost of Sh17 million which was paid to the contractor, but no works or existence of the stations was established during the audit.
The Governor Okoth Obado-led administration did not provide for audit review licenses for the operationalisation of the broadcasting from the Communication Authority of Kenya.