• The contract was renewed without subjecting the extension to procurement process contrary to Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
• The Stephen Kirogo-headed commission was unable to clear pending bills of Sh13.9 million in the fiscal year under review.
The Public Service Commission is on the spot for spending Sh2.9 million on civil servants’ insurance cover using an expired contract.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu flagged the payment in her latest review of the PSC accounts for the year ended June 2019.
Gathungu said the insurance contract used to support the payment to the insurer for the civil servants' group personal accident cover expired on June 30, 2018.
The auditor said the contract was renewed on existing basis without subjecting the extension to procurement process in contravention of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
The law requires the accounting officer to approve changes to a contract upon recommendation by the evaluation committee.
“Though management provided a letter of extension, minutes of the evaluation committee were not provided for audit review,” Gathungu said.
The PSC was also fingered for failing to spend Sh13.5 million of its Sh60.7 million development budget under acquisition of assets.
Gathungu said the under-absorption was an indication that all planned activities were not undertaken in the year under review.
The PSC received Sh1.24 billion for its operations in the said year. It raised about Sh1 million from its own sources.
The commission, which is chaired by Stephen Kirogo, was also unable to clear Sh13.9 million pending bills in that fiscal year.
It owed Tom Auto Care (Sh868,000), Click Interactive Media Ltd (Sh5.4 million), Visrom Company Ltd (Sh2.11 million), Frijo Enterprises (Sh850,000), Galaxy Ltd (Sh1.84 million), Ajay Wide Scale Ltd (Sh664,000) and Hosani East Africa Ltd (Sh2.23 million).
The bills, according to the report tabled in Parliament recently, were carried forward to the last financial year. This, the auditor said, distorted the PSC’s books.
“Failure to settle bills during the year in which they relate to adversely affects the provisions of the subsequent year to which they have to be charged,” the audit said.
Civil servants have a comprehensive medical cover by the National Hospital Insurance Fund and a separate cover for workman’s compensation. The latter is managed by the National Treasury.
A further review of the budget showed that the commission spent Sh97 million less compared with the financial ending June 2018.