Investigative agencies accused of inaction on graft reports

Investigative agencies have been put on the spot for not acting on Senate reports recommending prosecution of county officials to tame graft in the devolved units.

The accusations come as a Senate oversight committee is set to table reports for 10 county governments that could indict governors and their officers for embezzlement of public funds.

The Senate County Public Accounts and Investments committee has finalised the reports after three months of gruelling questioning of governors on the expenditure of billions sent to them in 2018-19.

The oversight committee scrutinises the financial books of county governments.

“We have finalised 10 reports and will table them immediately we resume from recess,” chairman Ochillo Ayacko (Migori) told the Star.

But as the committee prepares to table the reports, senators have expressed outrage at the DCI, DPP and EACC for sitting on their previous reports that called for their action to eradicate the run away corruption in the counties.

The committee has tabled more than 50 reports previously with far-reaching recommendations to the authorities to investigate, surcharge or prosecute governors and their top finance officers for loss of funds.

“Nothing. They are doing nothing at all on our reports. In fact, it is absurd that we can spend taxpayers’ money to produce the reports, then they end up not being implemented,” Embu senator Njeru Ndwiga said.

Ndwiga, who is a member of the watchdog committee, said reliance on the committee to check counties and their spending will not be an effective way if its reports are not implemented.

The accusation comes days after DPP Noordin Haji told MPs the current laws do not give weight to the Auditor General’s reports in prosecution of graft cases.

He implored the legislators to consider amending the law to make audit reports a direct tool of prosecution.

Haji said the law as it is does not give weight to the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s reports despite raising serious misappropriation of taxpayers’ millions by different government agencies.

“I cannot prosecute anything based on Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s reports. I still have to take it to the investigative agencies for further probe,” Haji said.

“Even PAC report can only be used as evidence for corroboration and can only be used if the Speaker allows me to use it.

Narok Senator Ledama Olekina backed Ndwiga’s sentiments saying the Senate’s reports are never acted upon.

“We come up with recommendations and then DPP and DCI sits on them. Nothing ever happens,” he said.

Olekina added that he was considering coming up with a legislation to bar governors whose administration have pending audit queries, from contesting for another political seat until the queries are cleared.

Deputy Majority leader Fatuma Dullo said the Senate has never got an implementation report for the recommendations they make to various government agencies.

“We never get a response on whether action has been taken or not. But this is are government institutions, once there is a recommendation from a particular committee of the House, the relevant institutions have to implement immediately,” he said.

In 2019, the panel, then chaired by Homa Bay senator Moses Kajwang, recommended investigation of 13 current and 10 former governors for the possible loss of funds during their tenures. 

“We don’t have a committee in the Senate to follow up the implementation of the report, so our committee will follow up,” Kajwang had told the Star.

Section 53 of the Public Audit Act states: “The relevant accounting officer of a state organ or public entity shall within three months after Parliament has considered and made recommendations on the audit report, take the relevant steps to implement the recommendations of parliament on the report of the Auditor-General.”

-Edited by SKanyara