•Sh96 million confidential budget has not been approved by the county assembly
•A confidential budget is only allocated to the President and is approved by the Interior ministry
Image: FILE
Governor Mike Sonko has enjoyed a confidential Sh96 budget since he took office in 2017.
The county assembly legal and justice committee raised the issue when officials of Sonko’s administration appeared before it last week.
The committee resolved to scrap the confidential budget and all funds allocated to the vacant office of deputy governor.
They also scrapped Sh20 million set aside for training expenses.
The committee, chaired by Jayendra Malde, said it was shocked by the existence of the Sh96 million confidential budget because the county assembly never approved it.
An administrator in the governor's office, Dominic Odera, could not account for the confidential budget.
Committee vice-chairman Moses Ogeto asked Odera to explain the essence of the budget but he couldn’t account for his boss’s secret budget.
According to the law, a confidential budget is only allocated to the President and is approved by the Interior ministry.
City Hall officers failed to present a letter indicating that Sonko should be allocated the confidential budget.
Image: COURTESY
The officials presented a budget proposal of Sh805 million for the office of the governor and deputy governor for the financial year 2019-2020.
The Sh805 million is split between office of the county secretary, which is allocated Sh458 million, and the office of the governor and his deputy which is allocated Sh314 million.
Nominated MCA Silvyia Kihoro questioned how the Sh314 million will be spent, considering the county has not had a deputy governor since the office holder quit early last year.
Image: COURTESY
The luxurious fleet of 12 cars
It was further disclosed that Sonko moves around in a fleet of 12 cars.
According to documents brought by the county officers, it had been proposed that the office of the governor and his deputy be allocated Sh180 million.
But nominated MCA Juliet Ndegwa said the figure was exaggerated and that each of the departments under the governor’s office had proposed a fuel budget.
The office of the governor and the deputy has five departments: legal services, fire disaster and management, inspectorate, investigative services and administrative.
Ogeto wanted to know the number of vehicles the governor was officially entitled to and whether the extra cars are captured in the budget.
“By law, the governor is entitled to five cars only. Some of the additional cars are drawn from other sectors,” Odera said.
He said since the governor is the overall executive authority, officers can’t restrict him.
The director of fleet further said that the department has suffered as it has to fuel all the 12 vehicles plus those that escort Sonko.
He said vehicles meant for the deputy governor are used by the governor.
The committee said the governor has been misusing county vehicles when he goes out to inspect county projects.