Governors advised to clean up payrolls

Senator Bonni Khalwale. He supported Cord’s push to have IEBC disbanded saying it was meant to ensure a level playground in future elections. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal said though he inherited the staff from the defunct local authorities, they were discharging their duties.
  • He admitted that the county was facing financial problems because of lack of skilled workers.

A Senate committee has urged governors to rid their payrolls of ghost workers.

County Public Accounts Committee chairman Boni Khalwale said it was worrying people were earning salaries they had not worked for.

Dr Khalwale made the observations when Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal admitted before the committee that some of his workers had no PIN.

The governor said though he inherited the staff from the defunct local authorities, they were discharging their duties.

“It is not true that I have more than 130 ghost workers in my county as indicated in the Auditor-General’s report,” he said.

He also denied that the county government could not account for Sh29 million, saying the Auditor-General relied on transactions made during the transition from the local authorities.

“This makes it impossible to capture all transactions. Officers from the Auditor-General visited the county at the wrong time when we were not fully in charge,” he said.

The missing funds were said to have been misappropriated between January to June last year.

The governor produced samples of goods acquired by the money the Auditor-General report claimed was lost.

“No money was lost. Our transactions have been above board since we took over. County officers had not updated the financial books because there was no staff. Our books are now clean,” he said.

He admitted that the county was facing financial problems because of lack of skilled workers.

Other governors who have appeared before the committee are Bomet’s Isaac Ruto and his Taita Taveta counterpart John Mrutu.