Auditor General queries Sh2bn undocumented expenses in Wajir county

Wajir county government headquarters. /HEZRON NJOROGE
Wajir county government headquarters. /HEZRON NJOROGE

Wajir county government is unable to account for Sh2 billion spent in the last financial year, Auditor General Edward Ouko has said.

Ouko said the value of the money in expenditures cannot be ascertained.

Although Sh1.12 billion was paid to contractors to upgrade Wajir county roads, and Sh279.8 million was paid for capital projects by the ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture and Water, Ouko noted that "no contract agreements were signed between contractors and the county government".

"Technical evaluation analysis did not show the criteria used and therefore it is difficult to ascertain whether it was fairly done," the report added.

The report also highlights that the county government is claiming Sh670.5 million in pending bills but no documentation in the form of contract agreements, LPOs, invoices and payment vouchers were produced to support the claim.

The office of the governor is also claimed to have paid Sh20.1 million to casual labourers but their number and the nature of services rendered “was not explained to support the huge expenditure”.

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Irregular construction of drifts and bush clearing works amounting to Sh58.8 million is also questionable.

The auditor noted that some tenders had no signed contract agreements between the county and the contractors as required by the law and that there were no letters of acceptance to support the expenditures.

For instance, road works were procured without competitive bidding and the contract cost was not a proper charge to the public funds.

It was also established that the works were not in the procurement plan and were not budgeted for the financial year under review.

Another Sh57.45 million was spent on water trucking services to various centres but it was established that the work tickets supporting the payments for water bowsers used to deliver the water were not dully completed.

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“This is because they lacked vital information such as timeout, time in, speedometer reading and the kilometers covered to actually confirm the vehicles hired to delivered services to the required points.”

Though Sh53.6 million statutory deductions and contributions of the county staff is said to have been paid to KRA, LAPFUND and Saccos, there is no documentary evidence to show that the monies were paid to them.

Other expenditures that remain unaccounted for include Sh25.6 million emergency relief food and Sh24.3 million in irregular and doubtful mileage allowances for MCAs.

The Sh31.5 million said to have used to procure vehicles, motorcycles and one cesspit emptier is said to have been done irregularly.

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