Senators reassure county bosses of partiality in spending review
Meru Governor Peter Munya speaks before the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee on November 22, 2016 at Parliament Buildings. Senators have said the committee maintains fairness when questioning governors over spending of county money. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Members of the committee have allayed the fears saying the county bosses have nothing to fear if they have utilised funds appropriately.
- They said inspection of the financial accounts to confirm that there was value for money allocated to counties is a constitutional requirement.
Senators have assured governors set to appear before its Public Accounts and Investment Committee to account for funds allocated to counties that they will be impartial when scrutinising the records.
This follows concerns that the Senate Public Accounts committee might be turned into a witch-hunt arena to portray governors as failures, ahead of the August 8 General Election.
But members of the committee have allayed the fears saying the county bosses have nothing to fear if they have utilised funds appropriately.
They said inspection of the financial accounts to confirm that there was value for money allocated to counties is a constitutional requirement that cannot be wished away, simply because this is an election year.
“Audit queries are not prepared by senators. They are prepared by the auditor who is not challenging them for their seats,” Dr Boni Khalwale, who is a former chairman of the committee, said.
The governors are set to be grilled over the 2014/15 Auditor General’s financial report.
“As much as some governors might read mischief and cite conflict of interest this being an election year, it is a requirement in law,” Nyamira Senator Kennedy Mong’are said.
Fears are emerging that senators who have declared interest to unseat the governors might capitalise on where they fail to account for the funds to set them against the voters.
