A report was brought before the Senate that shows how ward representatives and other county officials have been stealing immensely from taxpayers. This Auditor General Edward Ouko, in his 2016/2017 report, outlines how members of the 47 county assemblies have been using fictitious means to pocket public funds.
Sitting allowances seem to be the quickest avenue for sucking out quick cash for most county leaders and staff, with millions of shillings suspected to have been misappropriated through fake claims.
Mr Ouko’s report raised the red flag in Kisumu county on how Sh143 million spent in personal allowances was utilized. An audit review of the committees’ attendance registers and the membership attendance schedules for July 2016 revealed numerous instances of multiple payments totaling to Sh648,900.
The amount was paid out to individuals who, it was established, attended more than two committee meetings on the same date and the same time.
In Kakamega, the auditor raised issue with Sh7 million that was paid to MCAs to attend various committee meetings, noting that most of them did not sign attendance registers. The attendance registers maintained for various committee meetings revealed that sitting allowances were paid to more number of members than the registered in attendance.
According to Ouko, Nakuru spent Sh59.7 million to pay MCAs’ sitting allowances, but the review of a biometric system that had been installed in the assembly to monitor attendance of both plenary and committee meetings showed several disparities.
“An analysis revealed that some committee members were being paid sitting allowances despite not attending meetings. In other instances, members signed in and within minutes signed out,” reveals the report.
In Kajiado, Speaker Johnson Osoi, who is the chairman of the county assembly forum, and Kajiado West MP George Sunkuiya have both been singled out in the audit report as having received imprest that they did not account for.
According to the report, Mr Osoi was issued with an imprest of Sh509,184 to attend a training on strategic public service administration in Singapore. He travelled on July 24 and retuned on July 29.
“It was not clear whether this was an official trip as the initial training was from June 26-30, 2017,” says the report. Mr Sunkuiya, who was a ward representative at the time, before he was elected MP, was issued with a Sh402, 696 imprest to attend the same meeting with Osoi, but did not provide any evidence that he travelled.
With all this thuggery happening in parliament and wards, will the war against graft really end yet the people responsible to take care of the tax payer resources are filling their pockets with it?
Ouko reveals how MCAs steal funds: Sitting allowances for committee meetings appear to be the easiest way to make quick cash.
— Breaking News (@News_Kenya) October 26, 2018