Governors kept up to Sh30m as petty cash, Auditor General tells committee

By MOSES NJAGIH

Auditor General Edward Ouko has decried the “reckless” manner in which governors handled funds during the transition period, with some keeping up Sh30 million as petty cash.

Ouko said the anti-corruption body was already examing their reports on the plunder of money sent to counties for possible prosecution of those found culpable.

 Mr Ouko, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance, said county governments ignored the directions given to them by Transition Authority in handling bank accounts they inherited from local authorities and instead used them as conduits for the financial improprieties.

 He disclosed that they had sent their reports to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for possible prosecution of those found to have mismanaged the devolved unit’s finances.

Ouko told the committe that governors engaged in massive cash withdrawals and kept up to Sh30 million as petty cash, exposing the funds to misuse.

 “These were cross-cutting problems as many governors had misplaced priorities. Before these reckless spending, they should have first ensured that proper systems were in place. Unfortunately, even where the systems and regulations were in place, the same were grossly flouted,” said Ouko.

Ouko said regulations on procurement and how the funds were to be used were in place even before the General Election but were ignored by county staff including those seconded to counties by Transition Authority.

 Ouko also said governors did not take the special auditing process seriously, with many failing to respond to queries posed by his officers.

“We gave them (governors) room to respond to all the queries, but unfortunately many were not taking our work seriously and kept off leaving middle-level staff to answer the questions,” he disclosed.

He also faulted the Transition Authority over the manner in which they undertook the verification of assets and liabilities in counties, saying that his office had now decided to undertake the exercise afresh.

The revealations came as Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe said many governors had admitted that they did not know their assets and liabilities, even as they are confronted on daily basis by people making claims for work done under the local authority administration.

Committee Chairman Billow Kerrow asked Ouko to furnish the Senate with a breakdown of money that was lost in counties due to non-compliance.