Anti-drugs agency fails to account for Sh150 million

By WILFRED AYAGA

Kenya: The Auditor General Edward Ouko has told MPs that the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) failed to account for Sh150 million.

In a report tabled in the National Assembly yesterday, Ouko also notified MPs that Nacada paid a principal secretary Sh1 million for a conference, but that money appears to have disappeared.

The auditor said the money was paid to the PS Provincial Administration and Internal Security Mutea Iringo for a conference for DCs. “There’s no basis for such payment in the Nacada Act. The PS did not avail names of the payees and the amounts paid to each. The amount has not been recovered or accounted for to date,” noted the audit report for the year ended June 30, 2013.

The Auditor General said Nacada had failed to give schedules or bank statements to show that Sh94.7 million had been credited. “As a result, the direct credits to the bank amounting to Sh94.7 million could not be confirmed and accounted for,” the auditor said in the report tabled in the House by Majority Leader Aden Duale.

Prosecution

The auditor added Sh59.8 million that is said to have been spent on the Districts Alcoholic Drinks Regulation Committee operations “was not supported by documentary evidence”.

The auditor also indicted Nacada staff at the district level for losing Sh14 million, because of “several improprieties” as they collected licence fees.

“The amount has not been recovered to date nor have the officers been held responsible to account or compensate the authority for the losses incurred with possible prosecution in a court of law,” said the auditor.

He feared that thousands of licence and receipt books that were sent to districts are probably being used to fleece the public. He said that the role to license alcohol premises had been devolved to counties, and the district officers ought to have returned the books to Nacada.

“It is feared that these documents could be used and money collected not remitted to the authority. The authority’s efforts have only managed to get returns from seven districts within Kiambu County,” noted the Auditor General.