County officers resign as row over audit queries intensify

Governors Okoth Obado (Migori), County Executives in the two counties have resigned over alleged infighting. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

NAIROBI, KENYA: Internal wrangles in the Nyandarua county government may have caused County Secretary Charles Kireru to resign, The Standard has established.

Mr Kireru, who served for only six months, tendered his resignation letter to Governor Daniel Waithaka on Monday citing commitment to further his education. He becomes the third person in the governor’s office to resign in the last three months for what is believed to be ‘political’ reasons.

The others are James Wakaba, who was the economic adviser and Mwangi Nyaga (political adviser). Kireru’s exit is believed to be as a result of differences with senior officers.

Kireru intended to resign last week when the governor was on a tour of Germany, but Deputy Governor Waithaka Mwangi convinced him otherwise.

It is believed that County Assembly Speaker Ndegwa Wahome had also tried to convince him not to resign.

The deputy governor told The Standard there are serious wrangles in the county government, but did not disclose further details.

OPPOSED APPOINTMENT

“It is true that Kireru brought a resignation letter to me and as gentlemen we agreed that he should not do so when the governor was not around. I advised him to continue serving the county as he was the best,” Waithaka said.

A highly placed source told The Standard there has been an ongoing row between him and some members of the executive who are close to the governor. Some of them had opposed his appointment in March.

“Their differences burst into the open during the controversial Procurement and Tendering Committee members appointment where the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 clearly gives the County Secretary the powers to appoint in writing the chairman and the vice chairman of the committee and five members, who are the chief officers in the county. However, a powerful executive member appointed a parallel committee comprising the chief officer of finance as the chairman and the other five members drawn from his department,” the source who sought anonymity said.

The source said there have been two parallel tender committees, a matter that was proved when MCAs raised concern in the assembly on Wednesday.

Ndaragwa MCA Mwangi Kagwe demanded to know why there were two committees and which one was working.

“The committee by the county secretary was deemed null and void despite the fact that it is the one which was legal. The leadership, however, seemed to work with the other committee, a matter that made the secretary feel undermined,” added the source.

Contacted for comment Thursday, Governor Waithaka had this to say: “This is an independent county and anybody can do what he feels best. Anyway, that is a topic for another day.”

On the other hand, Kireru told The Standard that he is not ready to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, trouble is looming in Migori County following the resignation of Finance County Executive Benedict Omollo, at a time when questions were being raised over Sh300 million that remain unaccounted for.

Mr Omollo’s resignation came after a systems audit report for the period of July 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 revealed that over Sh300 million was either misappropriated or was not properly accounted for.

For a month now, the county has been operating without a finance officer following the resignation.

On Wednesday, the county government advertised the post.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

When The Standard interviewed Omollo on phone, he said he had to resign because of “personal reasons, which as a government officer working under oath, could not discuss with the media”.

However, the finance expert, who is a government auditor, said he tendered his resignation letter on August 25 and insisted that he considered quitting a good option to avoid controversies surrounding his working environment.

“I had to quit because my conscience could not allow me to continue working in an environment where people are told what they should do but they opt to do their own things,” he said.

Omollo resigned on the same date when all county executives were supposed to file their responses concerning the internal systems audit report.

A letter addressed to all county executives read in part: “Kindly refer to the attached letter on the above subject and have your comment and responses ready by August 25, 2014. Kindly treat this matter as urgent.”

The Auditor General’s report found that Migori has been exposed to financial risks by lack of internal controls and proper payroll for its 1,993 workers whose pay bill during the report stood at Sh720,447,565.

“Payroll had... 189 (workers) who had not been entered into the payroll. This kind of arrangement is likely to be a breeding ground for ghost workers,” the report states.

The report found that Sh186,584,912.76 was used to purchase motor vehicles, ambulances, tractors and motorbikes without following the proper tendering procedure.

Some Sh10 million was used to buy 100 water tanks to help boost water access but the procurement process was questionable.

Equally, records provided by concerned officers showed that Sh19,772,821 was paid out for legal fees “without any proper documents in place”.

There are Sh32,952,501 unsurrendered imprests while the Education department could not account for Sh19,772,821.

Close to Sh4 million was paid in advance for ICT projects. Of the amount, over Sh2 million was paid to help establish ICT villages while Sh7,820,788 million was used to develop the county website and a Local Area Network, but according to the document, there were no supporting documents besides the tender being awarded irregularly.

OLD WAYS

A football club was reportedly paid Sh168,000 without a Local Service Order. “It’s a sad thing that he resigned when so much light was needed about many undertakings that have been going on in the system, which they have been manning in the old ways they used to operate the defunct local authorities,” said County Assembly Public Investments and Accounts committee chairman David Mathews Chacha.