• Gathungu asks why MCAs and staff were paid allowances to travel 30km from Iten to Eldoret to write reports and hold meetings that could have been held in Iten.
• The county has also been flagged for excessive spending on personnel emoluments.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has faulted the Elgeyo Marakwet Assembly for irregularly spending Sh26 million public funds on unnecessary retreats and meetings for MCAs and staff.
“Excessive spending on wages and benefits may have resulted in under funding of operational and developmental activities of the assembly and constrain its capacity to carry out its legislative and oversight roles," Gathungu said.
During the 2019-20 financial year, MCAs and assembly staff went on retreats, held meetings and travelled locally and abroad for missions that did not yield value for money.
The county assembly is headed by Speaker Philemon Sabulei
Gathungu questioned why MCAs and staff were paid allowances to travel about 30km from Iten to Eldoret to write reports or hold meetings that could have been done in Iten.
Gathungu said in her latest audit for the assembly that the expenditure records indicated per diem totalling Sh4.5 million were issued to MCAs and staff for retreats and meetings held in other towns.
She said records on operating expenses showed Sh2.8 million was paid to the MCAs as per diem to enable them write reports and meet in Eldoret and Kisumu.
They could have been held in the county, the auditor said.
“The meetings and retreats were held contrary to the National Treasury circular No.20/2015 of November 4, 2015, that banned out-of-station events to discuss strategy documents, consultants’ reports, or for any other assignments that would ordinarily be done in local offices," Gathungu said.
She also said the statement of receipts and payments reflects goods and services expenditure totalling Sh229.5 million.
She said the money includes Sh21.1 million on foreign travel and subsistence. This included payments totalling Sh9 million made to officers of the assembly for foreign travel and subsistence.
She said the use of goods and services balance also includes Sh3 million spent by officers on domestic travel and subsistence.
“In both instances, the officers were issued with cash, which they immediately expensed, contrary to Regulation 91(1) and Regulation 93(3) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015," the audit report read.
The regulation requires such expenses to be incurred through imprests that the payees account for. Expenditure records also indicated that similar payments totalling Sh2.8 million were made to MCAs to enable them write reports in Eldoret.
“In view of lack of sufficient records on how the cash issued to the payees was spent, the propriety of the expenditure totalling Sh21 million could not be confirmed," the Auditor General said.
The county has also been flagged for excessive spending on personnel emoluments
The statement of payments by the county for the year ending June 30, 2020, reflects payments for compensation of employees’ totalling Sh283.4 million and social security benefits totalling Sh13 million.
The expenditure on the two items totalled Sh296.4 million, equivalent to 55 per cent of the total assembly revenue of of Sh537.8 million. It thus exceeded the ratio of 35 per cent stipulated under Regulation 25(1) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.
(Edited by V. Graham)