- In a terse statement sent to newsrooms on Wednesday, the governor said the county government was a cesspool of corruption.
- He said emergency spending must get his approval.
Image: JOSIAH ODANGA
Siaya Governor James Orengo has suspended all procurement and payment of pending bills and allowances until an ongoing audit is completed.
In a terse statement sent to newsrooms on Wednesday, the governor said the county government was a cesspool of corruption. He said emergency spending must get his approval.
“No procurements are being undertaken nor new contracts awarded until we are done with the application of prompt and effective interventions,” Orengo said in reference to an ongoing audit.
On Tuesday, a report in the dailies showed that a suspicious Sh400 million was withdrawn from the county coffers and Orengo acknowledged the same but insisted the graft in the county was deeper than that.
“Without mincing my words, the treasury in Siaya is rotten and so the latest report on financial impropriety and administrative malpractices is not news,” Orengo said.
The governor assured the public he is in control of a comprehensive forensic audit into the financial and human resource systems of the first administration that is ongoing.
He reminded the county treasury not to dare pay or engage in any financial transaction during this period without his direct authority.
His government has only allowed such transactions for emergencies and essential services.
On September 22, Orengo constituted a seven-member audit committee led by retired auditor general Edward Ouko.
The team will audit financial and human resource systems of the devolved unit, with a sharp focus on the last two financial years of the former governor Cornel Rasanga’s administration.
“This is the pathway to eradicating endemic and systemic corruption in Siaya,” Orengo said in the statement Wednesday.
Ouko and team have 60 days to do their work, starting September 22.
They are also expected to avail an interim report by October 22.
Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi had earlier urged Orengo to send Siaya County Secretary Joseph Ogutu on a mandatory leave.
He also wants staffers of the county’s treasury sacked in what he also described as a “deep rot” in the department.
The Daily Nation reported Tuesday that suspicious amounts of money worth Sh400 million was withdrawn from the county’s public purse.
Some of the beneficiaries are individuals believed to be clerks at the Siaya County Assembly and the county’s finance department.
“Below revelations are trembling and shocking. I urge governor Orengo to send County secretary Joseph Ogutu on leave and sack all treasury staff,” Atandi said in a tweet.
The suspected thievery is reported to have happened between July 1 and July 13, as political campaigns hit fever pitch.
But the pilferage of money continued even after governor Orengo was sworn in to office between August 31 and September 6.
Governor Orengo assumed office on August 25, following his swearing-in.
Soon after assuming office, Orengo halt payment of any pending bills and allowances until the audit process into the finance, procurement and human resource was completed.
The audit, whose outcome is expected in less 60 days, puts the administration of Orengo’s predecessor Rasanga on the spot.
It is reported that the executive paid Sh11,254,800 million to four clerks of the Siaya county assembly between July 1 and July 13.
Later, between August 1 and September 6, three others in the finance department had up to Sh2.4 million wired to their accounts.
Hesbone Kadullo, the Finance chief officer, has since been quoted by Nation, confirming that the payments were indeed made, but maintained that they were cash that the assembly had lent to the executive from their vote head.
“We diligently followed the right procedure in carrying out payments,” Kadullo said.
He explained that the so-called clerks were paid for carrying out oversight to the executive during the transition period awaiting the new administration.
As such, they were paid because it is the executive which usually facilitates the assumption of office.
Siaya county has been under the radar of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over a past corruption case amounting to Sh600 million.
-Edited by SKanyara