- He said an officer initiating a project and its financial resources should not be solely responsible for implementation and accountability.
- Oparanya is cleaning up his administration to remove corrupt officials and improve revenue collection.
Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya on Thursday asked his accounting officers to strictly adhere to financial controls to ensure accountability.
Oparanya said in Kisumu that poor financial management, especially on projects, had undermined services.
He directed that an officer initiating a project and with associated financial resources should not be solely responsible for implementation and accountability.
"This is where loopholes for corrupt deals are prevalent and internal audit units will be properly staffed to enhance controls," he said.
Oparanya made the remarks in Kisumu when he opened a workshop on implementing flagship projects.
The workshop was attended by all county executives, chief officers, subcounty administrators, planning and procurement officers and advisers to the governor.
Kakamega's flagship projects lined up include construction of a milk processing plant in Malava subcounty and upgrading and modernising Bukhungu Stadium.
Others include the construction of a tea factory in Shinyalu and construction of Level 4 hospitals in all12 subcounties.
Oparanya has embarked on a clean-up exercise to get rid of corruption and improve revenue collection to improve services.
Several officials have been fired over corruption-related issues.
A month ago, the governor sent all 143 revenue clerks on a 60-day compulsory leave because of dwindling revenue collection and replaced them with community administrators.
Sources told the Star that personal files for all the revenue clerks have been sent to state agencies including EACC.
Academic certificates have also been sent to various universities and colleges for verification.
"All projects must be derived from the County Integrated Development Plan and implementation should be in line with departmental work plans," the governor said.
He advised participants to focus on bills of quantities and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
(Edited by V. Graham)