OAG operations halt as Uhuru delays naming Ouko successor

Critical operations have ground to a halt at the Office of the Auditor General following the delayed replacement of Edward Ouko. 

Ouko left after his single eight-year term ended in August.  

Deputy Auditors General Edwin Kamar and Joyce Mbaabu told the Public Investments Committee (PIC) yesterday that the office cannot sanction special audits.

For instance, a fresh audit ordered recently by the Senate Agriculture Committee into the Galana Kulalu project can only be authorised by a substantive auditor general.

The OAG is also unable to initiate any procurement processes as the professional opinions can only be signed by the auditor general – the accounting officer.

Kamar and Mbaabu said they had to return nine OAG vehicles to lessors after their leases expired on September 30. Others were returned on October 31.

“Returning the vehicles has created a serious problem in the regional offices. Delivery of audits has been affected due to the logistical challenges,” Mbaabu said.

Further, the OAG decried its lack of representation in monthly meetings held by state accounting officers.

At the same time, the available officers have no power to authorise expenses above Sh100 million, raising fears of a delayed payment of contractors executing various construction works for the agency.

“No action has been taken on internal audit reports that have been completed and decisions of parliamentary committees that require the action of the Auditor General cannot be acted on,” the duo said.

The matters arose during an inquiry by the PIC chaired by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) sought an extension for submission of audited accounts.

The situation has affected five other state agencies whose audited accounts remain unsigned owing to the absence of a substantive auditor general.

They are Capital Markets Authority, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Kenya Power Plc, KenGen Plc, and East African Portland Cement.

The entities are now in breach of the law stipulating that their accounts be audited by September 30 (Kenya Power was due by October 31), reports which can only be signed by a substantive auditor general.

In this regard, the agencies’ accounts for the financial year 2018-19 are considered unaudited, hence they may lack the basis for seeking additional funding in the current financial year.

MPs flagged the anomaly saying they would push for the law to be changed for the President to appoint deputy heads of key constitutional agencies alongside their bosses.

This followed the current situation where the court ruled that officers cannot be appointed to constitutional commissions and independent offices in an acting capacity.

“We will push for an amendment to the law to address the limitations set by the Act defining the process of appointing an auditor general,” Nassir said.

The Public Service Commission is in the process of recruiting an auditor to replace Ouko.

Sources told the Star that the selection panel chaired by ex-Deloitte boss Sammy Onyango has sent three names to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The President is expected to select a nominee and send the name to Parliament for approval before the appointment.

Uhuru is expected to communicate his decision to Parliament within seven days of receiving the nominees from the selection panel.

But some members, Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini) and Wajir East’s Rashid Amin, questioned whether the delay by the Executive was intentional.

“The Executive should have been proactive having been alerted of the looming crisis unless it was by design that the process was delayed. Why wasn’t the President advised by the Attorney General to avert the crisis?” Wamalwa asked.

This followed revelations that the OAG wrote to Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua informing him of the events at the office.