No resources were lost, CS Rotich responds

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, has released a press statement 'setting the record straight' on media reports on the damning ombudsman report.

The Auditor General's expose on the financial statements for the financial year 2013/ 14 showed misappropriation of funds by several government departments to a tune of close to Sh67 billion.

Referring to media reports of the last few days, Rotich says that the National Treasury has "since established that there were no resources lost."

The statement further notes that Auditor General was unable to ascertain the said expenditures amounting to Sh66.6 billion because of absence of records and documentations.

However, Rotich says his ministry has established that some of the ministries and government agencies embroiled in the scandal had provided supportive documents to the Auditor General during the final stages of the audit review, whereas a few were unable to provide the documents though he says they are available.

He cites the limited time given to the accounting officers by the Auditor General as one of the reasons they did not submit the records.

The statement reads: "Further the office of the Auditor General did not hold final audit review or exit meetings with most of the accounting officers, if not all, as required by the International Standards of Auditing..."

Rotich acknowledges that even with further consultations with government agencies, the clarifications were not included in the final audit report that is now with the National Assembly.

He continues to highlight some of the government departments and agencies mentioned adversely, to demonstrate that it is 'inconceivable that such amounts can be misappropriated.'