• Senate committee summons Ouko and Odhiambo to explain county pending bills
• The offices of the auditor and CoB have been releasing reports with conflicting figures of the pending bills accrued by the devolved units
Image: FILE
Senators have summoned Auditor General Edward Ouko and Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo to explain discrepancies in the figures of the county pending bills.
They will appear before the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ on Monday.
The offices of the auditor and CoB have been releasing reports with conflicting figures of the pending bills accrued by the devolved units.
In her 2017-18 county government budget implementation report, the CoB indicated that the counties had accumulated pending bills amounting to Sh108 billion as of June 30, 2018.
But the Auditor, in a special audit report on counties’ bills released early this month, indicated that the devolved units had disclosed owing contractors and suppliers Sh88.89 billion.
However, the audit revealed that only Sh51.28 billion of the amount disclosed by the counties was genuine thus rendering Sh37.60 billion as fake claims.
The Kajwang committee has invited the officers for the consultative meeting following revelations the counties had disclosed completely different figures in their financial statements.
“The auditor has released a report that the auditors themselves and the counties that were audited do not understand. So we want the auditor and CoB to clarify these issues for us because about Sh200 million of taxpayers’ money was used in this report,” Kajwang said.
Kajwang spoke yesterday during the grilling of Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki over the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 expenditures by the oversight committee.
Muthomi told the panel that his county owed contractors and suppliers Sh417.11 million as of June 30, 2017.
The county chief said his administration has since paid Sh205 million leaving a balance of Sh212 million.
“I found pending bills amounting to Sh1.1 billion but after an internal audit, it revealed that the county’s debt was Sh719 million,” he said.
His figures clashed with the Sh260 million declared in the Controller of Budget’s report and those captured in the special audit report.
The auditor’s report revealed that the county’s total debt was Sh1.1 billion, out of which, Sh701.8 million was eligible.
“I am actually seeing the auditor’s report for the first time. It was never shared with us,” Muthomi said.
The special audit was commissioned by the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council co-chaired by Deputy President William Ruto and Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya.
Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi said that the conflicting figures of the counties’ pending bills were a concern as they could be an avenue for theft of taxpayers’ money.
“There are unscrupulous officers in the counties who could be inflating these bills to corruptly pocket taxpayers money. It is a serious concern that must be verified,” he said.
(edited by O. Owino)