Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga was on Wednesday put on the spot over under-banking of revenue from hospitals in the county.
Kahiga, who was before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) to respond to audit queries for the 2019/2020 Financial Year, promised to trace the money.
The audit report said pay-in-slips from Nyeri Provincial Referral Hospital, Mt. Kenya Hospital and Mukurweini Hospital revealed under-banking of revenue amounting to Sh937,406 during the year under review.
“This was contrary to Regulation 63(4) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015 which requires that all public money collected by a receiver or collector of revenue by a County Government entity, be paid into the designated bank accounts of the County Government and should not be used by any public officer in any manner between the time of their receipts and payment into the bank except as provided by the law,” the report added.
Kahiga promised to prove to senators, at a later date, that the money was banked and “did not disappear”.
He explained that revenue collected on the last day of the month is banked on the first working day of the following month.
Also, he added, if the end of the month falls on a weekend, cash for the last three days of the month is banked on the first working day of the following month.
“This results in under-banking in some months and over-banking in others. This may create an impression that some cash is not banked on time or there is spent before banking which is not true,” he said.
To resolve the problem, Kahiga said the department of health introduced Mpesa pay bills at all level 4 and 5 hospitals in the County to avoid handling of cash and ensure timely banking of all revenue collected at the end of the day.
He said the Mpesa pay bills are integrated into the designated bank account of the County Government where all revenue for health services are banked.
