Edward Ouko queries Sh5m pay in Kisii ambulance scheme

What you need to know:

  • The executives could barely explain to Mr Ouko how the cost of binding records staggered several thousands of shillings above the usual market rates.

  • The county was also found to be grappling with a cumulative Sh2 billion in debts, Sh9 million of which relates to the defunct local authorities.

  • Mr Ouko further questions the possible loss of Sh7 million, which features as a discrepancy between financial statements and Ifmis balances.

  • Ifmis is an automated system used by the national government and the 47 counties to enhance efficiency in planning, budgeting, procurement, expenditure management and reporting.

Kisii County paid out a staggering Sh5.7 million for an expired ambulance hiring scheme in the 2014/15 financial year.

The county’s ambulance hiring scheme ended on October 22, 2014 but officials in Governor James Ongwae's administration continued remitting payments for the service several months prior to its renewal in January 2015, Auditor-General Edward Ouko says.

Additionally, the county’s finance executive could not produce documents to support Sh1.2 million and Sh320,000 in sitting allowances paid to members of the County Assembly Service Board.

SH300,000 FOR FILE BINDING

“Neither attendance registers and meeting minutes were produced for the expense, and that there were no tax deductions that were remitted as required by the Income Tax Act,” Mr Ouko says in his report.

Curiously, only four of the county’s bank accounts had been configured to the Integrated Financial Management System (Ifmis) by the end of the financial year.

“In the circumstances, Sh457 million could not be confirmed where it had gone to,” the report says.

The report adds that the propriety, accuracy and completeness of other receipts amounting to Sh3.1 million for the year ending June 30, 2015 could not be ascertained.

The report shows a massive Sh300,000 was spent in the binding of files in the same year.

SH2BN DEBTS

The executives could barely explain to Mr Ouko how the cost of binding records staggered several thousands of shillings above the market rates.

The county was also found to be grappling with a cumulative Sh2 billion in debts, Sh9 million of which relates to the defunct local authorities.

Mr Ouko further questions the possible loss of Sh7 million, which features as a discrepancy between financial statements and Ifmis balances.

Ifmis is an automated system used by the national government and the 47 counties to enhance efficiency in planning, budgeting, procurement, expenditure management and reporting.

SH30M BURSARIES

“It is not clear why the expenditure in Ifmis varied with the expenditures as presented in the financial statements and, therefore, the validity of the figures disclosed in the statements could not be ascertained,” Mr Ouko says.

And although the administration had budgeted Sh135 million for bursaries, Sh30 million was arbitrarily spent on issues not related to the core mandate of the fund.

“This allocation was illegal because the county governments are not allowed to re-allocate funds from development vote to recurrent expenditure,” the auditor's report asserts, adding that even the assembly was not involved in the expenditure.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE

There were also queries regarding the refurbishment of the county’s main slaughterhouse, with concerns that Sh2 million of the Sh6.4 million contract did not create value for work expected.

“The future of the project is not certain because the county had already warned that it may terminate the contract due to poor workmanship. In this case, the county may not get value in this contract agreement,” the report says.

The executives were also hard-pressed to explain excessive expenditures in membership fees, dues and subscriptions to professional and trade bodies, legal fees and compensations.