Vihiga County govt paid Sh11m for expired food, says auditor
Vihiga County headquarters. The Auditor-General has asked the county to explain why it bought the food without the involvement of the Education and Health ministry officials. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Ouko has also accused the county of increasing the cost of a tender for the repair of an old town hall in Vihiga by Sh7 million.
- The Auditor-General said ward reps paid themselves sitting allowances for almost double the sessions they had held.
- He wants the county assembly to explain how it diverted Sh45 million meant for mortgage to finance a trip to Israel.
- Sh29.2 million was paid to a consultancy firm for the writing of 15 county Bills, while it had prepared only five.
The Vihiga County Government paid Sh11 million for expired food meant for a school feeding scheme.
In his latest report, the Auditor-General Edward Ouko has asked the county to explain why it bought the food without the involvement of the Education and Health ministry officials.
“The whole consignment was condemned by the department of public health as unfit for human consumption and recommended for destruction.
“The audit also revealed that the expenditure had not been budgeted for,” said the audit report on spending of counties in the last financial year.
Mr Ouko has also accused the county of increasing the cost of a tender for the repair of an old town hall in Vihiga by Sh7 million.
While the most expensive tender was Sh29.9 million the audit report said the county paid Sh36.9 million, an amount the auditor said was unexplained.
“Given that the amount for renovations involved exceeded the maximum allowed for the request for quotations method, it called for an open tender method. It is not clear why it was not used,” said the report.
The Auditor-General also questioned the payment of Sh29.2 million to a consultancy firm for the writing of 15 county Bills, while it had prepared only five.
COUNTY POLICIES
In another case, the county paid another Sh19.9 million to a second law firm for the drafting of 20 county policies and paid the full amount just after five of the documents were prepared.
Similarly, the Auditor-General also wants the county assembly to explain how it diverted Sh45 million meant for mortgage to finance a trip to Israel as well as paying new employees’ salaries.
According to the report, the assembly budgeted for Sh200 million for use in the mortgage scheme but records show that only Sh160 million was used by the MCAs, with no indication as to how the extra monies were used.
The Auditor-General has also questioned why ward reps and all the members of the Public Service Board spent Sh18.2 million on a trip to Singapore last year.
“Instead of the 10 members, who were invited to travel, all the MCAs and the chief officer made the trip to Singapore,” said the report.
The Auditor-General said ward reps paid themselves sitting allowances for almost double the sessions they had held.
This, the report said, led to the loss of Sh1.768 million.
