The National Assembly Committee on Cohesion and Equal Opportunities will conduct an inquiry into allegations of mismanagement in the office of the Auditor General.
The committee will move to establish whether claims such as abuse of office, corruption, tribalism, favouritism and mismanagement at AG’s office are true.
The claims were raised by a section of the staff at the audit office.
During the session chaired by Kasipul MP Charles Were, lawmakers noted that the allegations by the staff were grievous and could only be investigated through an inquiry.
“The committee has received a petition from the staff protesting over alleged mismanagement in the AG’s office and are seeking our intervention,” said Were.
Were explained that the petitions should be presented to the Public Petitions Committee for thorough consideration.
The staff in the AG’s office who sought anonymity said cases of corruption, abuse of office, tribalism, favouritism in training and talent development and hostile environment were rampant.
They said some of them are subjected to suffering, mental torture and affected cohesiveness in the Office.
“Over 200 staff members allegedly possess fake qualifications, including Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificates and no action has been taken against them,” the report by the staff reads in part.
However, the Committee ruled that their complaint did not meet the threshold required for the committee’s intervention.
The team noted that petitions were domiciled in the Petitions Committee.
Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge said the committee will not act on allegations in a report by anonymous authors.
“The law is very clear. Petitions or complaints delivered to the National Assembly must contain details of the authors, such as names and signatures among others,” said Mathenge.
Kamkunji MP Abdi Yusuf Hassan asked the Committee to trade carefully while handling the matter.
He added that what was going on in the AG’s office was internal wars occasioned by the change of leadership at the helm.
“The Committee needs to be careful while handling the matter. We should be objective and professional to avoid taking a direction that might amount to undermining the AG’s office,” he added.
He pointed out that cases of internal squabbles in State departments following changes in the leadership were rampant.
Shinyalu MP Fred Ikana and his Mwingi North counterpart Paul Nzengu supported the inquiry route, noting that it was the best way to dig deep into the matter.
“The Committee has the capacity to conduct a thorough inquiry into allegations by the staff with a view of resolving the matter for smooth running of the AG’s office,” said Ikana.
Mandera West MP Adan Haji said an inquiry would unravel misdeeds in the AG’s office as alleged by the staff or clear the office off the allegations.