Waititu on the spot over Sh2.1billion bizarre expenditure

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu (L) with his CEC Finance Kigo Njenga (C) in a discussion with his Senator Kimani WaMatangi when he appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee on audit queries at Parliament. [Boniface Okendo/Standard]

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has disowned an official county document showing how his government budgeted and spent Sh2.1 billion.

The county government had allocated Sh973.9 million for coordination of State House functions but spent Sh902 million. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Chief of Staff Waita Nzioka, in a tweet, said: “Just for the record, State House does not share any budgets with the County Government of Kiambu.”

The county also spent Sh180 million on the administration of statutory benefits for retired presidents.

State corporation advisory service gobbled up Sh591.6 million while another Sh58 million was spent on the Kenya-South Sudan advisory services.

While appearing before the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC), Mr Waititu said he was shocked to learn that his administration spent Sh793 million on Free Primary Education, a national government function under a county vote head that had been allocated Sh804 million during the year.

The shocking audit queries led the Moses Kajwang’-led committee to order a fresh audit and a report tabled within 45 days. The queries are for the 2017-18 financial year.

But Waititu disowned two pages of the document showing the dubious allocations alleging that they could have been sneaked in by his political detractors out to tarnish his administration.

This is despite the financial statement documents being signed by two senior county treasury officials on September 28, last year.

“What I have seen is also new to me. I think it is a misuse of the national government template because nobody could have assumed that we have such figures in our county. Because we don’t have a budget for those things and therefore there is no expense at all,” Waititu replied.

“We have the signatures of the CECs. Where we take the responsibility is up to where the CEC signed. We cannot take the responsibility of what we don’t know. I will not bear the responsibility as the governor for something I don’t know. What I am seeing here from my senator and the other senators, is what I expected. They are trying to use politics to tarnish the name of my government.”

According to Waititu, his administration did not spend money on free primary education, personal emoluments to retired presidents and to the Kenya-South Sudan advisory activities.

He said the problem arose from “misuse of templates” of the national government by his finance department.

Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi told Waititu that he could not deny the figures, and at the same time tell the committee that he had filed a response to the Auditor General.

“These figures are the figures you responded to. There is no way you can say you responded to something else. These variants here, of Sh45 billion are the ones you responded to in that report that you filed,” he said.

Waititu then shifted gears to blaming his woes on political opponents, but he was shot down by Mr Kajwang’.