• The office of Auditor General Edward Ouko is ceased of the dam scandals and will investigate.
• Speaking in Kakamega town yesterday, Ouko said that his office was collaborating with the DCI and DPP on the matter.
The scandal-hit dams in Kerio Valley will be audited alongside parent ministries.
Speaking in Kakamega town yesterday, Auditor General Edward Ouko said that his office was collaborating with the DCI and DPP on the matter.
He said his office will audit the dams when it carries out an audit of the parent ministries where the dams are domiciled.
“We audit the Kerio Valley Development Authority but the dams do not come in, the dams will be captured when we audit the parent ministries because the project spans across several ministries," he said.
Ouko was in Kakamega for the official opening of the new Sh160 million Kakamega regional office that is to serve as the hub for former Western province.
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said suggestions that staff at the Auditor General’s office be hired through the Public Service Commission was an attempt to compromise the work of the office.
“We read mischief in that suggestion because the office of Auditor General would lose its independence if that was to be done. The Auditor General must be left to hire staff the way he wants as long as independence is maintained,” he said.
Oparanya said the independence of the Auditor General was critical to ensure prudent use of public resources.
Western Regional Commissioner Anne Ng’etich, Kakamega county commissioner Jaldeza Abdirazak and Kakamega county assembly speaker Morris Buluma attended the function.
Ouko said that his office will give priority to build regional hubs where land was available.
“We have put one in Garissa to cover Northern Kenya and this one in Kakamega will cover the four counties in the former Western province. We also have landed in Eldoret and Embu and we are constructing other hubs,” he said.
He said that the creation of amble working space will motivate his staff to work harder and complete their work within time.