Assets register shame at the counties

 

Several county governments may have lost assets valued at billions of shillings in the past 12 years since the advent of devolution due to a lack of comprehensive asset registers, which has exposed them to looters.

At the start of devolution in 2013, the counties were tasked with preparing and maintaining the registers and submitting copies to the Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC).

But more than a decade later, most counties still lack proper registers for their assets, exposing the properties including those they inherited from the defunct county and municipal councils, to theft.

Various audits by the Office of the Auditor-General reveal that assets which may have been stolen include buildings and structures, land, transport equipment, motor vehicles, office equipment, furniture, machinery, ICT equipment, heritage and cultural sites.

A scrutiny of the various audit reports shows that the counties most affected include Nakuru, Kericho, Nairobi, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Bomet, Mombasa, Kisii, Nyamira, Elgeyo Marakwet, and Migori.

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A recent circular by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) raised alarm over poor records management systems in the 47 counties, including asset registers, which the anti-graft body said were aiding corruption.

The January 2024 EACC circular asked county executives and county assemblies to urgently put in place swift and radical reforms in how they manage records.

According to EACC boss Twalib Mbarak assessments revealed inadequacies in the management of records in both the county executives and assemblies.

"EACC has noted that Fixed Assets Registers are not being maintained and/or updated adding that counties maintain a list of assets, which are not comprehensive as they do not capture pertinent information such as serial numbers, value and location of the assets. The assets are not uniquely tagged and coded for ease of identification and accountability," read a circular by the anti-graft body.

The commission said ownership documents for some assets, such as land, machinery, equipment and motor vehicles are registered in the names of the defunct local authorities, which the commission said has in some instances led to grabbing, encroachment and theft of the assets.

The EACC further noted that Asset Disposal Committees have also not been constituted in some counties to guide on the ‘disposal of surplus, obsolete and unserviceable assets'.

This comes against a backdrop of various county governments fighting to save parcels of land worth millions grabbed between 2013 and 2024.

Others were grabbed at the transition to county governments in 2013 by influential leaders in the defunct county and municipal councils.

An example is in Kisii County, where EACC has acted following the discovery of the grabbing of county government prime land valued at more than Sh1 billion at Nyanchwa Estate.

It emerged that the suspected grabbers used the public land to secure loans amounting to more than Sh11 million.

The grabbers, who were influential people in the defunct Kisii Municipal Council and some who served during the previous regime subdivided the land into 81 plots, some of which were sold to unsuspecting developers.

Further, a report by the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee (CPISFC) has also revealed that land and motor vehicles are among assets worth millions of shillings, at risk of being lost as ownership wrangles and lack of asset registers rocked water companies run by county governments.

The report revealed that many water companies are wrangling about ownership of assets and some lack ownership documents as well as asset registers.

“The committee observed that most of the water companies had disputes with regard to the ownership of the assets,” CPISFC states in the reports.

The report, by the committee chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, covered Amatsi Water Services Company in Vihiga, Bomet Water Company and Gusii Water and Sanitation Company Limited in Kisii and Nyamira.

Others are water firms of Kisumu, Kwale, Nyeri and Wajir counties.

By ERIC MATARA