The Nyandarua county government will have to pay Sh515,000 bill to secure the release of a vehicle that has been held in the garage for nine years.
The Land Cruiser Prado registration number GKA 252D has been held after the county failed to pay Sh80,000 for its repair.
The vehicle has been accruing storage charges with the total amount standing at Sh515,000 as of June 30, 2019.
The revelations are contained in an audit report for 2018-19 released by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu and tabled in the Senate last week.
“The continued disuse and accruing costs from holding grounded vehicles should be evaluated vis-à-vis the realisable revenue at disposal,” reads the report in part.
Also, 48 vehicles belonging to the county and whose value the auditor could not determine have been grounded.
The audit further shows that four mega projects valued at Sh655.58 million initiated by Francis Kimemia’s administration have stalled and the contract terminated on March 25, 2019, with only 30 per cent of the work done.
They include the construction of county headquarters for Sh617.64 million.
Others are the construction of Sh14.72 million of market stalls, sheds at Sonko Mpya and construction of enhancing gates, sentry boxes and perimeter wall for Ol Kalou stadium for Sh21.98 million.
“From the foregoing, I am unable to confirm if the county executive will realise value for money for the contracts valued at Sh655.58 for ongoing projects as of June 30, 2019,” its states.
The Nyandarua government, which the auditor gave a clean bill of health the year before, has been indicted for skewed hiring of staff.
It shows that 95 per cent of the county staff are from the one dominant community contrary to Section 65 (1) of the County Government Act.
The Act requires that when selecting candidates for appointment, the county public service board shall consider the need to ensure that at least 30 per cent of the vacant posts at entry level are filled by candidates who are not from the dominant ethnic community in the county.
The auditor also faulted the county governments for denying government taxes amounting to Sh35.80 million.
The county failed to withhold taxes when paid out Sh153.13 million to the chief engineer, Mechanical Transport Fund for road grading and gravelling.
“However, withholding taxes amounting to Sh17.49 million, on account of VAT and withholding tax of Sh185,208 and Sh17.31 million respectively were not withheld for onward remittance to the commissioner for domestic taxes under the rates,” the report states.
It adds, “The omission violates Section 34 (1)(a) of the Income Tax, 2010 which states that tax on the total income of an individual, shall be charged at the individual rates for that year of income.”
The county has also been accused of making irregular payments to the council of governors.
The county transferred Sh6 million to the council contrary to Section 37 of the Intergovernmental Relations Act, 2012 that states that CoG shall be funded by the national government.
Nyandarua official also provided contracting documents on county pending bills, resulting in an unexplained variance of Sh34.60 million.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
