Joseph Kinyua told to account for Sh192m
What you need to know:
- Auditor-general revealed loss of the money during purchase of vote kits between electoral agency and the Treasury.
- National Assembly members also want to know which firm received the money for supplies.
Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua is expected to shed light on the loss of Sh192 million in payment for biometric voter kits, MPs ruled on Thursday.
The maze of transactions that took place between the Treasury and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) came to the fore during a hearing before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday.
The auditor-general’s report had indicated that Sh192 million was lost during the transaction.
IEBC Chief Executive Ezra Chiloba said the commission received Sh6 billion to purchase biometric voter registration kits from the Treasury, but further directives were given to return the money.
“We received the money together with authority to incur expenditure but went on to return the funds, after which the Treasury went ahead to make payment to the Canadian Commercial Corporation for supply of the kits,” said Mr Chiloba.
But Balambala MP Abdikadir Aden claimed the funds were paid to Safran Morpho of France, which delivered the 15,000 kits to the electoral commission.
The PAC chairman, Mr Nicholas Gumbo, asked why the funds were returned to the Treasury and why it paid out the money when the commission had been authorised to spend it.
Mr Kinyua was the Finance permanent secretary at the time and so Mr Gumbo directed that he appear before the committee to shed light on the matter.
Mr Aden further claimed that the Sh192 million, which the auditor-general said had been lost during the procurement of the kits, may have been lost during the irregular transfers of funds from the Treasury to the commission and back.
AUTHORISED TO SPEND
Mr Chiloba defended the electoral commission, saying it was not party to the contract, and that the Treasury should give details on which firm received the money.
Mr Gumbo directed the commission to provide documents indicating that the money was sent to its account, and that the money was then transferred back to the Treasury, as well as financial statements of the commission during the period.
