Governors blame private sector for graft in counties

Governors now blame the private sector for facilitating corruption in both the national and county governments.

Council of governors chair Wycliffe Oparanya said they are witnessing projects completed without the value for money.

Addressing the sixth State of Devolution yesterday in Nairobi, Oparanya said the loss of money is compounded by the unethical behaviour of professionals who hold key positions of trust in government.

“I call upon every citizen to help in safeguarding the public interest in our undertaking. Our resolve as a Nation must be to join the President and the Council of Governors in fighting corruption,” he said.

In recent times, several governors have been targeted in investigations due to alleged misuse of county funds.

On May 23, anti-graft detectives raided the city homes of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu in search for evidence linking him to the irregular award of an Sh588 million tender.

He was also accused of fraudulent acquisition of public funds, conflict of interest and money laundering.

On June 7, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji said he would decide whether to arrest and prosecute two governors, and one former governor over graft.

He, however, declined to disclose their names saying this would jeopardise the process.

Oparanya also called for professional vigilance and need for peer review amongst governors especially in the recent anomalies in the audited accounts of 11 counties.

“Working with the Auditor General, Controller of Budget and National Treasury specifically Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) department, our resolve is to clean up the system and ensure no such anomalies happen again,” Oparanya said.

The Kakamega governor called for the need to cap National Government borrowing and to develop an equitable revenue sharing formula based on costed-functions.

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