Kenya is a country that never ceases to have controversies as the days go by. Everyday has its sheer side of the good and the bad. Most of the bad days in the country are always coupled with news on corruption and the misuse of public resources.
Today is no different after the shocking revelations that were made by the auditor general Edward Ouko.
According to Ouko, the National Drought Management Authority cannot account for Sh4 billion meant to assist vulnerable Kenyans in times of disaster.
According to an audit report for the year ended June 2017, tabled in the National Assembly on Wednesday morning, the authority failed to produce documents on how Sh2.3 billion was utilised.
According to the report, the authority did not have a documented basis on how beneficiaries of Sh2.3 billion were identified and the rates used for payment.
“In the circumstances, the validity of the expenses cannot be confirmed,” Auditor-General Edward Ouko says in his report.
Mr Ouko also points out that the authority failed to provide documents for the auditing of a further Sh1.7 billion relating to expenses under the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP).
“The expenditures and the receipts are based on requisitions made to fund various activities, but accountability documentation in support of the expenses has not been provided for audit verification,” the report reads.
Records indicate that through HSNP, more than 600,000 of Kenya’s most vulnerable people have access to cash transfers on a regular basis, and up to 2,100,000 people have benefited from emergency cash transfers in times of drought or floods.
The report also indicates that about Sh13 million that was channelled to counties was not utilised and that there were no confirmations from the respective county offices of the amounts held at the end of the financial year.
The auditor, however, does not mention the counties, even as he concludes that the accuracy of the millions in question cannot be confirmed.
Spotlight has been shown on the authority for failing to account for Sh11 million donor funds that were meant to assist drought victims.
Mr Ouko says the management failed to reconcile its bank balance, hence the accuracy of Sh11 million received from United Nations Development Programme, World Food Programme and other donors cannot be confirmed.
Ouko’s shocking revelations come just a day after another shocker was presented to Senate. Here, the auditor General, in his 2016-2017 report revealed massive theft and plunder at the Nairobi county amounting to billions of shilling in unaccounted funds. The report was tabled in Senate by Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen.
Ouko revealed that of the entire revenue collected in Nairobi, only 22 per cent made it to the bank. The rest was allegedly spent at the source. This he attributed to a porous revenue collection system.
For instance, the county collected Sh10,933,201,475 as per the county’s own generated receipts and only Sh2,420,840,729 was banked in the County Revenue Fund Account.
“The balance of Sh8,512,360,746 was spent at the source contrary to Section 109 of the Public Finance and Management Act, 2017,” Ouko said.