MPs split on fresh Sh8.3bn audit

Public Accounts Committee members have differed over a proposal to order a fresh audit into an Sh8.3 billion scandal.

Part of the team, (PAC) wants the Auditor-General to scrutinise the scam at the Office of the President afresh.

In the same vein, Cord leader Raila Odinga demanded an explanation from President Uhuru Kenyatta on how the Sh15 billion disappeared from his office in the run up to the 2013 presidential election.

“The buck stops with the president. He is the one mandated to provide an explanation on how the Sh15 billion was used or spent,” Mr Odinga said.

The Cord leader expressed shock that the government is quiet despite public concern over the withdrawals linked to the Office of the President Accounts, the Police Commissioner’s Account and the Inspector-General of Police Account and the Director of Criminal Investigations Accounts.

“It is absurd that the cash was withdrawn from the Central Bank at night and transported in trucks and Land Rovers over claims that it was needed at State House,” Mr Odinga said during a rally at Eastleigh on Sunday.

PLOT TO COVER UP

Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, who is a member of the committee, on Monday described the move to order a fresh audit as suspicious.

He urged the committee to use information already supplied by the auditor’s office to dig into the questionable financial deals that led to questionable payouts.

Mr Mohammed warned of a plot to cover up the deal which he said compared with the Goldenberg scandal of the 1990s.

“We are hearing of insider stories detailing how an official at the OP drove away with cartons filled with cash ,”Mr Mohammed said.

He called on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the matter.

“It is an unfortunate that EACC is still waiting for someone to ask them to step in,” he said.

Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba said that the team called for a special audit to enable the committee to focus specifically on the scandal due to the amount of public cash lost.

“We have asked for more documents and a special audit because this will enable us to isolate this matter from ordinary audit issues,” Mr Namwamba said.

Suba MP John Mbadi, a PAC member, said that the committee has since seized more documents detailing the execution of the scandal.

“When we met last Tuesday we decided to call the Auditor-General to give specific briefs. Some of us have demanded a forensic audit to unearth the details. ”Mr Mbadi said.

The Interior ministry from where the money was withdrawn is yet to respond despite the raging public outcry.