Governors to face senators starting Monday over audit queries

Irregular procurement, questionable pending bills and stalled projects are some of the key queries that governors face as they appear before the Senate for marathon sessions.

The county bosses are set to face the Senate county public accounts and investments committee over the damning 2019-2020 financial audit reports for the county executives starting Monday.

This even as senators lament about persistent inaction on their reports by state authorities to tame financial wastage and runaway graft in the counties.

“Implementation is the biggest problem we face. We make serious recommendations to EACC, DCI and these others agencies but they are not acting on them,” committee chairperson Ochilo Ayacko said.

The nine member panel scrutinises the auditor general’s reports on the expenditures of billions of shillings by the counties and questions governors to account for the spending.

Senate clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye invited the governors for the marathon questioning that will run from Monday, March 22 to May 23.

“…. the committee hereby informs the chief executives of the sittings of the committee scheduled in the months of March, April and May, 2022 and invites them to appear before the committee…,” a notice by the clerk reads in part.

The governors are required to submit written responses and supporting documents 14 days prior to the scheduled date.

According to the notice, Narok governor Samuel Tunai will be the first to face the panel. He will appear at 10am Monday before his Bomet counterpart Hillary Barchok appears at 2pm.

Kajiado governor Joseph Ole Lenku and Salim Mvurya of Kwale will defend the expenditures before the committee on Tuesday.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and Kilifi’s Amasom Kingi appear before the committee on Monday next week before Ali Roba of Mandera and Ali Korane of Garissa appear the following day.

They will be followed by governors Mohamed Abdi (Wajir), Josphat Nanok (Turkana), Patrick Khaemba (Trans Nzoia), John Lonyangapuo (West Pokot), James Ongwe (Kisii) and Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay).

Governors Anne Kananu (Nairobi), James Nyoro (Kiambu), Alfred Mutua (Machakos) and Granton Samboja (Taita Taveta) will be the last four county chiefs to appear.

In the audit reports release last December, the auditor general flagged several questionable spending of public money by the devolved units.

The reports shows stalled projects including governors’ residence, unexplained pending bills, ballooning wage bill and irregular procurements and substandard works done nearly by all the 47 county governors.

For the first rime, not a single county executive got a clean of bill heath from the auditor. This is unlike previous years when Makueni and Nyandarua got unqualified reports.

In Kericho and Nyamira, the auditor flagged the possibility of ghost workers that are draining the county coffers.

This is after it emerged that thousands of employees have not been allocated personal numbers and were being paid outside the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database.

The automated database system weeds out non-existent staff, commonly known as ghost workers, from the payroll.

“The lack of payroll numbers may lead to loss of funds through ghost employees,” the auditor noted in the report for Kericho.

Some 148 projects stalled in Nyamira.

In Makueni, Gathungu revealed that projects worth Sh55.27 million are lying idle after the county government failed to commission them.

In Machakos, the auditor flagged what boarders on wastage of public fund.

This is after it emerged that the county executive spent Sh136.14 million to construct a governor’s lounge.

This came just a year after the executive spent Sh512.26 million to construct an expansive building dubbed ‘Machakos White House’ that houses the governor’s office in Machakos town.

“No investment appraisal document was provided for audit to indicate that the county lodge deserved priority over other projects that may directly benefit livelihoods of residents,” the report reads.

-Edited by SKanyara