House team to question top Education officials

The Ministry of Education will Tuesday morning have a date with Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to respond to audit queries in its 2006/2007 and the 2007/2008 budgets.

While still reeling under the heat of the Sh110 million Free Primary Education scandal, the ministry officials, led by permanent secretary Karega Mutahi, will have to explain the audit queries raised by the Controller and Auditor General.

In the report scheduled for discussion Tuesday, the education officials have to show where an estimated Sh318 million paid in by donors for two projects was used.

“These payments were not supported by any documentary evidence, not even returns to confirm receipt of the goods and services paid for,” reads the report to the PAC.

The full day meeting to be held at Parliament buildings, will see top ministry officials grilled for flouting procurement rules, outstanding imprest and unsupported expenditure.

The Controller and Auditor General also queried the re-allocation of Sh3.3 million from Egerton University’s building budget, to the rehabilitation of Machakos Primary Teachers Training College.

Treasury authority to reallocate the funds, Controller and Auditor General noted, “was not sought contrary to government financial regulations.”

There is also an unexplained Sh235 million in grants given to five public bodies. The ministry’s ledger, shows that Sh73,669,182,654 was disbursed to the institutions, while the audited accounts shows that Sh73,904,477,419 was disbursed to the institutions.

The report to the PAC noted that “no explanation has been provided for these differences.”

The November 2006 contract in which the ministry asked two firms to set up computer infrastructure at Sh86.5 million will also come under the scrutiny of the PAC.

One firm was to supply 580 computers valued at Sh53.8 million, while the other was install network communication at a cost of Sh32.7 million.

The payment, the records show, was supposed to be pegged against the delivery on the project. But, the firms were paid the entire amount in advance.

By May 2007, when the project was supposed to be operational, only 57 out of 92 sites had been installed with the computers, “leaving 35 sites without operational systems.”

“Further, staff training, operational acceptance of the system and commissioning of the entire 92 sites had not been done. The ministry was therefore in violation of the contract agreement,” the Controller and Auditor General’s report noted. “No explanation has been given for paying the total contract sum in advance or for any action being taken to ensure satisfactory completion of the project.”

Outstanding imprest by ministry staff is also part of the problem at the ministry, with Sh20.7 million held at the ministry as at June 30, 2007.

Some of the officers flouted the financial rules and gave out additional imprest before the earlier amount had been accounted for. The rules require that all imprest is surrendered within 48 hours after an officer returns to their duty station.

With the PAC itching to have a date with the PS and the minister over the matter, the chairman, Dr Boni Khalwale, will use the chance to hear the PS’s side of the story with regard to the free learning scandal.

In Tuesday’s meeting, the PS will be accompanied by top directors in the ministry. The Controller and Auditor General and some Treasury officials are also expected in the meeting.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has asked President Kibaki to weigh in and have the minister and his PS step down for proper investigations to be conducted.