Hire auditors for counties

The Auditor-General and the Controller of Budget have done a commendable job of exposing rot, especially corruption and mismanagement, in the counties.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu and the CoB, Dr Margaret Nyakang’o, have not tired of pointing out the wrongs and shortcomings for remedial measures to be taken.

Had the two ladies not gone out of their way to highlight these wrongs, the mess that has become synonymous with the counties could easily have been swept under the carpet.

But what is emerging is a shocking revelation that, if acted upon, could have helped to avert some of the pilferage and mismanagement through which billions of shillings have been lost.

Unbelievably, 13 years into devolution, counties do not have internal audit units. And 21 county governments do not have the mandatory internal audit committees. An internal audit is essential in the running of public and private enterprises, government agencies and other organisations.

Internal auditors play an essential role in financial management, checking the spending by the county executive and assembly. Their absence, therefore, creates room for a free-for-all in the handling of public finances. This anomaly, which violates the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, leaves a loophole for theft and wastage of funds.

Ms Gathungu’s report for the 2022/23 Financial Year cites the lack of internal audit teams as a key contributor to the rampant mismanagement in the counties.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has said as much and advised the counties to set up audit committees to fight graft.

In some of the counties, efforts to establish the internal audit committees have stalled, while in others members simply quit, probably due to lack of support from the executive.

The law requiring these internal committees must be enforced and the functional ones supported to provide this key service.