SENATE DIRECTS EACC TO INVESTIGATE NYANDARUA COUNTY

By KELVIN OBIRI | 6 months ago

Senate Public accounts committee chairman Moses Kajwang.PHOTO/FILE

A Senate watchdog committee has directed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to pitch tent in Nyandarua County to investigate questionable expenditure of at least Sh785million incurred by the administration.

The Senate Public Accounts Committee flagged various financial malpractices at the county government and asked the anti-corruption agency to take a keen interest in the queries raised by the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to establish fraud, corruption or other financial improprieties.

The Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ led committee queried outstanding imprest amounting to Sh306.4million issued during the financial year ended June 2021 but not cleared contrary to regulation 97(1) of the Public Finance Management Act.

In addition, there were also unsupported hospital transfers amounting to Sh275.9 million in transfers to hospitals which was not supported by way of detailed expenditure returns from each medical facility, opening bank balances and certificate of bank balances.

Further, the balance includes a Covid-19 funds balance of Sh89.3 million that was also not supported by payment vouchers, bank statements, or expenditure returns.

Connected to this was the unsupported expenditure of Sh8.4 million in hospitality supplies and services that was not supported by way of imprest warrants, surrender vouchers, memorandum cash book for imprest, public participation minutes and approved work plans.

“We are giving the county government a week to provide the vouchers failure to which EACC is directed to investigate,” said the committee’s stand-in chairperson Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo.

Nyandarua Governor Kiarie Badilisha who is grappling with 69 grave audit queries in the two fiscal years, was taken to task why his administration also paid Sh30 million to a construction company with the payment not supported by way of procurement records, contracts, certificates of works done and inspection and acceptance committee certificates.

The Irish potato-producing county is also on the spot for spending Sh27.2million for projects not included in the approved budget where the county also failed to provide respective project files for audit review.

And as if that is not enough, the financial improprieties continued with Sh31.5 million expended on travel expenses without requisite documentation to support the expenditure.

The questionable expenditure saw officers paid per diem and travel allowances directly to their bank accounts without the use of imprest warrants contrary to regulation 93 of the PFM Act which requires temporary imprests to be issued mainly in respect of official journeys.

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