Public Accounts Committee has been told how the State Department for Livestock lost more than Sh31 million on payment for non-operational equipment for milk plants in Kitui county
The PAC chaired by nominated MP John Mbadi heard that the state agency paid the money for four defective coolers for farmers' Cooperative Societies.
This is after officers allegedly submitted misleading reports on the state of the equipment.
The department had invested the money in the purchase of the coolers for Mwiwe, Tagho, Masii and Yatta cooperative societies to support their value chain programmes.
"Make sure you take administrative action against officers who misled you on this matter," Mbadi said.
But a report by the Auditor General tabled before the Committee revealed that the coolers were defective despite consuming millions of taxpayers' money.
This was revealed when State Department for Livestock PS Harry Kimtai made his submissions on the audited reports for the financial year 2020-21.
The Committee demanded PS Kimutai to take stern action against officers who misled the department into paying funds for equipment that were not in use.
The Committee also learnt that the department could not account for Sh18 million proceeds from the sale of assets.
“This includes certified seeds, breed stocks inventories and commodities from across the country,” the report reads.
Another audit query arouse from the failure to account for Sh43.7 million collected from four agricultural training institutes.
The funds were collected from programmes at the Industry Training institute -Ndombi, Meat Training Institute(Machakos), Animal Health Training Institute (Nyahururu) and Naivasha's Dairy Training Institute.
The Committee was told that the funds were spent at the source upon collection by the department.
The PS in his response said the funds were collected under welfare funds for students in the institutions.
"The funds were primarily used by the students during the period of study. The cash mainly comprises insurance, caution and practical course money,”Kimtai said.
Kimtai added that the department was in the process of establishing a Board of Directors as a legal framework to manage the resources and institutions.
He pointed out that the Livestock Bill which is at the draft stage will address most of the shortcomings in the management of the resources and institutions through the Board of Directors.
"I have noted all the issues that have been raised by the Committee and I will ensure that officers who misled the department into paying money for the coolers that were not functional are disciplined," Kimtai said.
Mbadi told the PS to ensure that he had a functional system that helps him ensure prudent financial management.
