Have you ever imagined one attending two different meetings going on from different places at the same time? Well, to Kisumu ward representatives, this is just a walkover! The MCAs are on the spot for earning millions `of shillings in allowances for meetings they never attended.
An audit on the County Assembly shows the Members of County Assembly (MCAs) appeared to have been present in meetings that happened concurrently hence earned double sitting allowances in one of the many ways taxpayer money is squandered in the devolved units by the county politicians.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko who gave a very poor verdict on how the county’s finances are managed, could not comprehend how the MCAs managed to be in ‘two places at the same time.’
“Although the attendance register showed that the members attended both meetings, it is not clear how a member can attend two meetings concurrently,” Mr Ouko wrote in the report covering the year to June 2018.
The MCAs also earned Sh7.07 million in sitting allowance in committee meetings whose minutes could not be traced.
The MCAs earned Sh87.1 million allowance in the year to June 2018.
The few minutes presented to the auditors had no signatures.
While vetting the Audit committee, MCAs earned a cool Sh531,400 as personal allowances as quarter per diem without any approval.
The same way, the MCAs’ sitting allowance for July 2017 which had hit Sh1.4 million had not been supported with any attendance register.
Being just a month to the General Elections, the MCAs may have been too busy campaigning but still insisted to be paid for attending meetings that never existed.
MCAs have always fought hard to draw huge allowances in trips and meetings.
Last year, they successfully overturned a Gazette Notice issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to slash their allowances.
High Court Judge George Odunga restored their perks when he quashed the SRC notice in December 2018 after Kakamega MCAs went to court to contest the cut on allowances.