MPs accuse auditor of shallow reporting

Auditor-General Edward Ouko. FILE PHOTO |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Mr Edward Ouko was hard-pressed to explain why his reports were not thorough on the misappropriation of billions of shillings allocated to the counties over the past two years.
• The MPs used the meeting at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi to question the auditor’s past reports, saying they were not detailed enough. They said devolution was at risk of failure because of theft of funds in the counties.
• The Auditor-General said his office did not have adequate money and personnel to conduct a through audit of the 47 counties.

By JEREMIAH KIPLANG'AT
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MPs yesterday accused the Auditor-General of failing to capture the “misuse” of funds by governors and county assemblies in audit reports.

The lawmakers said they had witnessed open embezzlement of public money by governors yet this had not been documented.

Mr Edward Ouko was hard-pressed to explain why his reports were not thorough on the misappropriation of billions of shillings allocated to the counties over the past two years.

Members of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee also alleged that audit officers had been compromised by governors and were helping them to swindle taxpayers.

Mr Ouko had appeared before the committee to explain the delay in submitting the National Government’s 2014/15 audit report to the National Assembly.

The MPs used the meeting at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi to question the auditor’s past reports, saying they were not detailed enough. They said devolution was at risk of failure because of theft of funds in the counties.

GOVERNORS 'LIVING LAVISHLY'

They said the governors started living lavishly on assuming office and asked Mr Ouko to conduct lifestyle audits.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo said he knows of a governor who contributes a lot of money in harambees yet he did not have campaign funds before the last elections.

“The governors earn less than (we do), but their spending habits are way above what they earn.

“In all the functions I have attended, the governor has never contributed less than Sh300,000,” said Mr Gumbo (Rarieda, ODM).

The Auditor-General said his office did not have adequate money and personnel to conduct a through audit of the 47 counties.

The report was to be submitted to Parliament by December 31 last year, but Mr Ouko said the deadline was not met due to inadequate staffing.

“We are supposed to audit the National Government and the counties. I am really spread thin in the counties and quality is often sacrificed,” said Mr Ouko.

Some of the MPs asked him not to pay much attention to the counties, saying more funds were being embezzled by the National Government.

“The Auditor-General should not get derailed by pursuing counties and forgetting the Sh2.1 trillion in the National Government,” said Suna East MP Junet Mohammed (ODM).

Last month, the Auditor-General's office informed a Senate committee it was unable to fully investigate claims of financial misappropriation in Narok County due to lack of funds.