Public Service and Youth secretary Ms Lillian Mbogo Omollo has presented herself to the police as roundup of those named in the ministry’s Sh9 billion scandal intensifies.
So far, at least 17 suspects have been arrested and taken to the Directorate Criminal Investigations headquarters on Kiambu Road in Nairobi.
On Friday, the PS fought off claims that the funds were stolen, arguing that the auditor-general’s 2016/17 report did not flag off fraudulent transactions even though the document has not yet been tabled before the National Assembly.
“The loss of Sh9 billion as alleged would mean that NYS is technically closed,” she said during the grilling by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.
Normally, the auditor-general’s reports are tabled before the House before it is committed to PAC.
Mrs Omollo, however, told the committee that payments may have been made irregularly to companies that she said were inherited since 2013 and asked those responsible to take individual responsibility.
According to the PS, she refused to authorise payments for about 1,600 claims, saying they did not have supporting documentation, such as minutes, while others were not signed.
On Monday, the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji ordered the prosecution of all suspects named in the ongoing probe.
Mr Haji said his office had completed perusing files on 10 companies and more than 40 individuals linked to the NYS scandal.