Several counties overspent on paying employees, auditor-general says

What you need to know:

  • In Kisumu, the audit questioned Sh405 million excess, Sh6.8 million in Homa Bay, Sh577 million in Kakamega, and Sh136 million in Migori, which Auditor General Edward Ouko said was either past the total sum or was paid outside the payroll.

  • Mr Ouko questioned Kisumu’s Sh3.112 billion used to pay employees in the 2014/15 financial year, a figure that included Sh69 million paid as collective bargaining agreement arrears.

Several counties in Nyanza and Western Kenya spent close to Sh1.5 billion in payment of employees that the Auditor-General says was way past the sum of the total payroll figures.

In Kisumu, the audit questioned Sh405 million excess, Sh6.8 million in Homa Bay, Sh577 million in Kakamega, and Sh136 million in Migori, which Auditor General Edward Ouko said was either past the total sum or was paid outside the payroll.

Mr Ouko questioned Kisumu’s Sh3.112 billion used to pay employees in the 2014/15 financial year, a figure that included Sh69 million paid as collective bargaining agreement arrears.

A comparison of the actual money paid to employees and that disclosed in the financial statements showed a difference of Sh405 million, which Mr Ouko said could not be explained.

While a comparison of the earnings of the employees of the county under Governor Jack Ranguma showed a total of Sh2.7 billion, the county disclosed that it had paid out Sh3.11 billion.

Mr Ouko also flagged that the county lost Sh22 million to five sacked executives in 2015, who had pending car loans and mortgages.

Mr Ouko questioned a variance of Sh23 million that was not banked after collection of revenue between April and June 30, 2015. The auditor also questioned the failure by the county to release Sh58 million meant for the county’s Level Five Hospital.

A VARIANCE

In Homa Bay, Mr Ouko questioned a Sh342.8 million variance in the purchase of goods and services as well as a Sh6.8 million difference in the payment of employees.

The report said that the county had omitted Sh26.4 million imprests in its documents when the audit was done.

In the period under review, the top auditor says the county paid Sh123 million to a contractor and a consultant for the construction of Kadongo-Gendia Road even before the two were declared non-performing and the contract terminated.

Similarly, the county paid Sh5.7 million for the maintenance of two roads (Nyalkini-Imbo and Omoya-Pineapple) for work that was never done.

Mr Ouko also questioned a Sh4.9 million payment for VIP toilets and changing rooms at the Homa Bay Stadium, whose construction was still ongoing, six months after its supposed completion date. He further flagged two other projects costing Sh12 million that were paid for but had not been done or were incomplete.

In Kakamega, he questioned the use of Sh133 million for travel and transport expenditure, which was not itemised, as well as Sh200 million given to Mumias Sugar farmers, whose distribution the auditor says could not be verified.

Mr Ouko also questioned the late payment of the Sh2,000 given to new mothers for 18 months under the Oparanyacare programme, yet the funds had been appropriated. “At the time of this audit in December 2015, Sh17.87 million was due and payable to over 16,145 mothers,” says Mr Ouko.

WERE INCOMPLETE

He flagged the county for paying Sh17.123 million for road works that were incomplete. A total of Sh39 million for various works in the Lands Ministry was spent with no supporting documents.

Mr Ouko said that Kakamega paid Sh577 million outside the payroll for an undetermined number of nursery teachers, clinical officers and ward administrators.

The auditor further said that the county paid Sh1.74 million instead of the legal maximum of Sh150,000 to a law firm for “taking instructions to sue a senator and former deputy speaker of the county assembly for defamation.”

In Migori, the auditor questioned another unexplained variance in county payroll of Sh136 million.

While the statement of receipts reflected an amount of Sh1.679 billion for salaries and allowances for permanent employees, Mr Ouko said it did not tally with the payroll summary figure of Sh1.54 billion. Mr Ouko further said that Governor Okoth Obado’s government re-allocated Sh63 million without reference to the assembly.

In Busia, the county paid Sh11 million for the purchase of a medical equipment donated to the county, and which had not been delivered when the audit was done in March 2016.