Auditor General says Meru MCAs, staff should refund Sh9m paid irregularly
Meru MCAs during a county assembly session. The MCAs and the assembly's staff are required to refund more than Sh9 million that was irregularly spent during the 2014/2015 financial year. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The money was spent on foreign travel, modernisation of county assembly chamber and offices, procurement of the Speaker’s house.
- Sh34.1 million was paid to 217 ward employees who were irregularly hired.
- MCAs are also on spot for receiving rent for ward offices yet they were listed as tenants.
- The county assembly is also required to recover Sh456,729 in consultancy fees that was overcharged by a contractor.
Ward representatives and staff of the Meru County Assembly are required to refund more than Sh9 million that was irregularly spent during the 2014/2015 financial year.
The money in question, according to the Auditor-General’s report, was spent on foreign travel, modernisation of the county assembly chamber and offices, procurement of the Speaker’s residential house, renting of ward offices and taxes paid for MCAs and staff.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko has also poked holes into the payment of salaries amounting to Sh34.1 million paid to 217 ward employees who were irregularly hired.
According to the report, Sh3.3 million was spent when five MCAs attended a trade conference in Dallas, USA and arrived on the last day of the event.
Of this amount, Sh2.1 million conference registration fee could not be confirmed.
“The MCAs departed from Nairobi on October 2 and October 3, 2014 and arrived in the USA on October 4, 2014 which was the last day of the conference.
“The MCAs could have opted not to travel when they realised they would not get their visas in good time to attend the conference,” the report states.
It cites the county assembly for single sourcing Concept Communications Company for air ticketing services, noting that it was not among the pre-qualified suppliers.
“The amount of Sh3.3 spent on the two did not benefit the county residents and should be recovered from the responsible officers,” the Auditor-General recommends.
RECOVER CONSULTANCY FEES
The county assembly is also required to recover Sh456,729 in consultancy fees that was overcharged by a contractor for the modernisation of its chamber and offices.
It also requires the assembly to recover Sh470,000 paid from the Speaker as five months’ rent for his residential house for lack of supporting documents.
“The County assembly paid Sh470,000 to the speaker who is actually the landlord. However, the payment voucher was not supported with an invoice or any other documents to validate payment,” it states.
Members of the county assembly are also on spot for receiving rent for ward offices yet they were listed as tenants in the contractual agreements.
Most of the ward offices were rented at Sh20,000 per month yet there was no valuation report to support it.
“The irregular rental expenditure of Sh4,777,100 be recovered from the respective MCAs as it is not supported,” the auditor recommends.
Mr Ouko directed the County Assembly Service Board to regularise the appointment of 217 ward employees, cancel unmerited recruitment and recover money from responsible officers.
