At least eight counties cannot account for an excess of Sh17 billion owing to irregular spending as per latest audit from Auditor General Edward Ouko.
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.
“Physical verification in November 2018 revealed that the television and radio stations were not operational. Consequently, the value for money may not be realised,” the report says.
Further, the auditor was concerned about the payment of Sh630 million towards the maintenance of 115 roads. The money was largely spent on gravel patching, which the auditor said is expensive and unsustainable as it requires regular maintenance services. He advised the county to build new roads.
In Tana River, the auditor, among other concerns, flagged a major scam touching on suspicious transactions on foreign travel that could have led to the loss of Sh41 million.
No payment records and other relevant documents supporting the expenditure were provided for audit. The county can also not account for Sh191 million set aside for refurbishment of buildings.
Also, the auditor questioned the irregularities in procurement of construction contracts for projects worth Sh45 million that he said were not advertised for as required by law.
A total of 30,777 litres of fuel with an estimated cost of Sh3, 421, 947 were supplied to private vehicles and those belonging to the national government departments.
“No proper explanation was provided for supplying fuel for vehicles that do not belong to the county,” says the report.
In Mandera, the auditor has raised concerns on Sh41 million spending on the construction of the cattle troughs.
He said the departmental requisition and tender opening register was not made available for review.
In Murang’a county, cash paid to 31 MCAs as domestic travel allowance while attending various meeting in Mombasa was queried.
“The management did not give convincing reasons why the Executive funded the trip yet the Assembly has its own budget for such activities,” the auditor noted.