A Senate watchdog committee has directed the anti-graft agency to commence investigations into the financial rot in Migori County.
This comes after a report by the Auditor-General revealed financial misappropriation running into millions of shillings.
According to the report, former Governor Okoth Obado’s administration paid pending bills marked as ineligible amounting to Sh498 million.
The county was also on the spot over a Sh54 million insurance contract whose award could not be properly explained. This is in addition to Sh78.8 million transferred to the county assembly that could not be accounted for.
Senate County Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay) directed that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) begin investigations into the loss of public funds in the county. He said that county officials had presented a forged document to try to explain the insurance expenditure.
“EACC should commence investigations into the issues raised and also reveal officers responsible for the forged documents,” said Mr Kajwang’.
The committee is conducting an inquiry into the auditor general report for the financial year ending June 30, 2020.
According to the report, the financial statements, statement of receipts and payments reflects an amount of Sh1.27 billion in respect of transfers to other government entities, including Sh1.03 billion, which is indicated as transfer to the county assembly.
However, the report states that the financial statement of the assembly reflects only Sh958 million, resulting in an unreconciled variance of Sh78.8 million.
Mr Kajwang’ termed the unaccounted for amount as outright theft, saying both entities must be held accountable.
“This Sh78 million is almost half of what you collect annually as your own source revenue of Sh200 million. From our observation, the money was not properly accounted for, it disappeared in thin air and EACC should get to the bottom of the matter,” he said.
He also wondered how the assembly received over Sh1 billion during the financial year as well as another Sh121 million as ward development fund.
“How does 13.4 percent of your budget go to the county assembly instead of the 7 per cent allowable by law? It is either the assembly is arm-twisting the executive or the latter is trying to compromise the assembly,” said Mr Kajwang’.
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Appearing before the committee, Governor Ochilo Ayacko admitted he inherited a scandal-ridden county government. He cited the legal department, saying that the former county attorney was a daughter-in-law to the ex-governor and did not hold the requisite qualifications of the position.
“Legal fees is a monumental scandal. However, the legal fees issue is just the tip of the iceberg as there are bigger problems in what I inherited,” Dr Ayacko said.
The report further reveals that the management engaged casuals in various departments without the authority of the County Public Service Board contrary to the law. The casuals were continuously engaged for more than three months without a written contract.
However, Dr Ayacko told the committee that most of the temporary workers were inherited from the defunct local authorities. He said the management tried to regularise the process but was stopped by a court order.
“Further, the management is currently verifying the temporary staff documents awaiting the new County Public Service Board to regularise the engagement,” said Dr Ochilo. “The County Public Service Board was part of the mess and they were abetting the culture of just employing casuals for political support.”
“We are giving you six months to report back to us on the measures you have taken on the issues of payroll and casual workers. You cannot have casuals from the defunct local council up to now,” said Mr Kajwang’ while giving final directions. BY DAILY NATION