AUDITOR GENERAL'S QUERIES

Treasury officers on the spot for snubbing PAC

Failed to appear for questioning about 'cash and cash equivalent' audit issues

In Summary

• County Treasury officers to be summoned if they fail to appear before PAC on Monday.

• PAC  given until October 16 to submit its final report to the assembly on the Auditor General's queries for FY 2017-18.

Nairobi County Assembly Nominated MCA Juliet Ndegwa outside the assembly on August 7.
BETTER SHOW UP: Nairobi County Assembly Nominated MCA Juliet Ndegwa outside the assembly on August 7.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA

County Treasury officers are likely to be summoned if they fail to appear before the assembly's Public Accounts Committee and answer audit queries.

The officers have been accused of deliberately for evading the committee's sittings which have led to in completing the query at hand.

The committee has been examining the Auditor General's report on county finances for 2017-18.

On Wednesday, the committee chaired by Wilfred Odalo sought an extension until October 16 to complete their probe.

The committee said that despite questioning most witnesses, officers from the county Treasury are causing delay by not responding to queries.

Nominated MCA June Ndegwa, a PAC member, said the executive for Finance and Treasury officials have not submitted critical responses to the "cash and cash equivalent" audit query.

"We have given Treasury officers the last chance to appear before the committee on September 16 (Monday), failure to which we shall issue summonses against them," Ndegwa said.

On June 24, the committee also sought an extension and acting assembly Speaker Chege Mwaura directed the committee to table all its pending reports on the Auditor General's questions no later than Tuesday, September 10.

However, the committee failed to table its report and listed seven Treasury officers failed to testify and were in office during the period under review.

They named Vesca Kangogo who was the Finance executive; Ekaya Almasi, the chief officer for Finance, Leboo Morintat, chief officer for Public Service Management; Patrick Mwangangi, head of procurement; Stephen Mutua, head of Treasury; Edward Gichana, head of internal audit and Kefa Omanga, chairperson of the now-defunct Medical Insurance Evaluation Committee.

(Edited by V. Graham)

 

Explaining to the Star,Ndegwa said that the executive have been on a whirlwind to sabotage the works of the committee.

"It is either there is sabotage from the executive side that they don't want to fully account and give crucial documents that support the audit queries or the officers are covering up for something that they don't want to be revealed, she said.

"Some when they appear they come with documents that are not satisfactory and at times no documents are submitted and we are forced to turn them back. The committee is aware that some of the even don't have the documents and dodge appearing for quizzing,"she added.

Nairobi County Assembly Chief Whip Peter Imwtaok at theCounty Assembly on September 10, 2019
Nairobi County Assembly Chief Whip Peter Imwtaok at theCounty Assembly on September 10, 2019
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA

Minority Chief Whip Peter Imwatok sought the speaker's intervention in the matter before the committee takes charges " As a committee we have powers and if the treasury officers feel they can escape we shall issue summons..PAC is an evidence based committee and they have to appear with the necessary documents. We are the people who use evidence based reports and witnesses so that when we embark on report writing its is factual," he said.

The Speaker of the day Hon.Antony Kimemia directed that the tables office officially write to the concerned executive officers , asking the to appear before the committee on Monday

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