The Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee was yesterday forced to adjourn its sittings prematurely after Tharaka Nithi Governor Samuel Ragwa presented amended responses to the Auditor General's queries.
Representatives from the Office of the Auditor General from the Eastern Region hub told the committee chaired by Anyang' Nyong'o that the documents presented by the governor in the committee had not been scrutinised by the auditors.
Efforts by Nyong'o to have the meeting proceed were rejected after senators Kennedy Mong’are (Nyamira), Karue Muriuki (Nyandarua) and Martha Wangari (nominated) said the auditors must be satisfied because the committee relies on them to clear the audit queries.
“This document is edited heavily from the one in the file. The technical team (auditors) must receive the documents well in advance. We are not going to engage on a fishing expedition by comparing documents,” Mongare told the committee which held its sittings at Parliament Buildings.
Ragwa denied that the documents he presented were not changed ,however, he was unable to table evidence to confirm that the substitute document had been received by the auditors earlier as he claimed.
Nyong’o finally ruled that both senators and the auditors needed more time to scrutinize the amended responses presented by Ragwa for them to make a sound determination.
Wangari was the first to raise concerns that the explanation from the governor on how more than Sh 1.3 million spent on food supplements was different from a document submitted to the auditors.
Wangari said the evidence had not been interrogated in advance by the auditors to enable the senators to make an informed decision on whether Ragwa had properly accounted for public funds.
“The early copy had more evidence than this one. We must not hurry this process and ambush the auditors and committee members. The governor and his team must be send away to allow the auditors time to check through the evidence," Wangari said.
Senators also want the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to clarify whether it’s circular on the nature of engine capacity of vehicles both the national and county governments and their agencies should procure.
This follows revelations that both national and county governments are still buying vehicles above 1800cc contrary to the guidelines.
Ragwa who was accompanied by County Executive Members told the committee the SRC circular arrived, long after his government had procured the county vehicles.
"We sought permission from the County Assembly, because we urgently required the vehicles," he told the watchdog committee.
Ragwa who was sent away fro the second time is expected to re-appear before the committee on Thursday afternoon with a more detailed response.