- He dismissed as null and void a task force on pending bills and human resource audit established by the county government.
- He said taking on such mandates was an act of usurping the powers of the Auditor General and related offices.
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High Court in Kitale has said county governments have no business auditing pending bills accrued by past regimes.
Justice Anthony Mrima issued the ruling on Wednesday after a petition by a private citizen challenging the decision on October 21, 2022, to audit the above by the Trans Nzoia county government.
He said the role of auditing rested on the office of the Auditor General, dismissing as null and void a task force on pending bills and human resource audit established by the county government.
He said taking on such mandates was an act of usurping the powers of the Auditor General and related offices.
"A declaration hereby issues that the establishment of the Taskforce on Pending Bills and Human Resource Audit by Trans Nzoia governor vide Kenya Gazette which notice was published on October 21, 2022, contravened Articles 174(a) and (i), 226(3) and 229 of the Constitution, the Public Audit Act, the Public Finance Management Act and Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations 2015 by usurping the powers of the Auditor General and those of the Internal Audit Office and the Audit Committee of Trans Nzoia," the ruling reads.
"The Taskforce and its resultant report are, therefore, unconstitutional, null and void."
Further, Mrima said to balance the matter, the Audit report which had been prepared by the aforesaid taskforce ought to be regularised and any further implementation of the findings and recommendations contained in it be forestalled.
"With such an approach, justice will be served to both the taxpayers and the county government which is eager to entrench proper governance structures in place," he said.
Mrima also directed that the Auditor General consider the report and decide whether it meets the appropriate parameters required by the Constitution and the law.
After the consideration, the Auditor General will either adopt the Audit report as having been initially sanctioned by the office or reject it.
The judge ordered that the decision be made and communicated to Governor George Natembeya within 60 days of service with the task force report.
The court directed that if the Auditor General decides to adopt the report, the office will be at liberty to adopt it as it is or to make any changes to it.
It can also make further recommendations and findings to the report as it deems fit.
"In the event, that the Auditor General rejects the audit report by the Taskforce in its entirety, or if the 1st Respondent (Governor Natembeya) herein fails to effect service of the report and judgment as directed, the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Taskforce and its report in shall forthwith take effect, " the judge ruled.
If the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Taskforce and its report takes effect, it will mean that the resultant findings and recommendations together with any actions taken by the county government in the implementation of the Audit Report shall have no force of law or at all.
"The same shall accordingly stand quashed and the state of affairs shall revert to as it were before the establishment of the Taskforce. In that case, all the sums of monies expended upon the Taskforce shall be made good in accordance with Article 226(5) of the Constitution," the judge further said.
The task force was created to audit and verify the bills owed by the county government to suppliers and contractors.
The respondents in the case were Natembeya, the county government of Trans Nzoia, the Finance executive, the Finance Chief Officer and 11 members of the task force.
Natembeya and his co-accused defended themselves arguing that the task force was a necessity to address pending bills, which had accumulated to over Sh2 billion.
They said the task force was not interfering with the functions of the Auditor General but rather complementing them.