Governor Sakaja in a spot over Sh2.2 billion variances in revenue collection

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is now in the spot over Sh2.2 billion, money uncounted for in the 2023/24 financial year.

This is after the auditor raised concerns that the Sh12 billion announced by the county as revenue collected under the year of review was incorrect.

Governor Sakaja had in June last year announced the amount, saying it was the first time that City Hall had made such a huge improvement compared to other years.

However, the Auditor General’s report indicated that the completeness and accuracy of the reported revenue could not be confirmed.

The revelations emerged during the County Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee hearing that was attended by officers from the Office of the Auditor General.

Also present were members of the Executive led by County Chief Officer for Revenue Administration Tiras Njoroge and some members to respond to queries surrounding the Auditor General's Revenue reports.

The auditor told the committee that there was a variance between the reported revenue and the transaction schedule.

“The statement of receipts and disbursements reflects a total revenue amount of Sh12, 963,144,592. Included in the revenue report are 11 revenue streams totaling to Sh12, 053,763,650 and other income value added tax at Sh909, 380, 942,”  read part of a document tabled by the auditor.

According to the document, the transaction revenue stream provided for an audit totaled to Sh10,714,303,140, which differed with the reported revenue amount of Sh12,963,144,592, resulting in an unreconciled variance of Sh2,248,840,452.

The document further indicated that a review of the bank's statements revealed that three Mpesa transactions totaling to Sh32, 994,754 could not be traced to bank accounts.

The auditor told the committee that the data that was provided by the county about the announced Sh12 billion could only support Sh10 billion.

“Even when we do the calculation, we still arrived at an unreconciled variance of around Sh800 million. What is lacking here is that we can’t see the reconciliation of the variance. What we need from them (county) is to be able to reconcile for us the variations,” the auditor said.

But the Chief Officer Tiras Njoroge said within City Hall’s system there are various people coming to pay for tree cutting or wayleaves paid for different areas which provides further support where the revenue comes from.

The auditor, however, insisted that the county needed to provide a clear explanation supporting the revenue streams and reconciliation of the variances.