Bungoma MCAs receive double allowance, report reveals

Ward reps got Sh2.6m for five-day trip that they did not take.

A report by the Auditor-General has revealed that members of the county assembly received double allowances for foreign travel.

According to the 2017/2018 fiscal report, the ward representatives were paid Sh5.3 million for a scheduled 10-day trip to Kigali, Rwanda, despite only visiting for five days.

“It was noted that the participants who travelled out of the country for official assignments were paid daily subsistence allowance for double the duration that was originally envisioned for the trip,” read the report.

The report noted that the ward representatives were paid an additional Sh2.6 million for the five-day event that focused on leadership training for elected women.

The report also showed that county assembly staff were paid millions of shillings on behalf of the MCAs, which was against the law.

The money is said to have been paid out to the staff to cater for travelling and accommodation expenses, which would have required the MCAs to apply for imprests through a warrant.

“Review of the payment records revealed that an amount of Sh180,874,306 was paid to staff of the county assembly on behalf of MCAs to cater for accommodation expenses contrary to Regulation 91 (2) of the Public Financial Management Act,” read the report.

Auditor-General Edward Ouko also questioned the wisdom of carrying around such a large amount of cash.

Mr Ouko said the assembly had failed to indicate the security measures put in place to secure the cash in transit.

The audit also revealed that the assembly paid out a further Sh7.4 million for foreign travel but there were no supporting documents to show the impact of the trips.

“The schedule of activities that were to be carried out during the trips, and feedback report of the studies and conferences, were not provided for audit review,” read the report.