Millions of public funds are lost in
counties because those in charge of oversight are under pressure from
political parties not to expose financial malpractices.
In
some counties, virtually all members of county assemblies (MCAs) are
from the ruling coalition and they cannot portray the government in bad
light.
"The policy of government is the policy of the
county assembly. This affects proper oversight," Deputy Auditor-General
David Gichana said Thursday during the second annual legislative
assembly in Mombasa.
“Ideally, leaders of the oversight
committees both at the national and county governments are drawn from
the Opposition -- because they can question financial irregularities
without fear or favour,” he said.
He however pointed out that with shifting political loyalty, many politicians cannot be trusted to safeguard the public funds.
"You may have the right members but, what is their political affiliation?" Mr Gichana asked.
He
observed that some oversight committee members do not take time to
understand the audit queries they are expected to interrogate before the
oversight meetings are convened.
Oversight mandate
Prof
Anyang' Nyong'o, who is the chairman of the Senate County Public
Accounts and Investment Committee (PAIC), accused some leaders of taking
Parliament's oversight mandate for granted.
Prof Nyong'o warned those who think they would go scot-free upon leaving office that they are misguided.
"A
public officer is responsible for his actions whether in office or
outside," Prof Nyong'o said, citing Article 226 of the constitution.
The
clause reads: "If the holder of a public office, including a political
office, directs or approves the use of public funds contrary to the law
or instructions, the person is liable for any loss arising from that use
and shall make good the loss, whether the person remains the holder of
the office or not."
Prof Nyong'o challenged law
enforcement agencies to work closely with Parliament to ensure those
accused of financial impropriety face the law, saying this would help
restore public confidence in them.
He said many
financial irregularities were committed in procurement where the county
bosses award tenders to their friends and relatives, in due disregard of
the law.
Some county governments, he said, are operating without proper internal audit systems to help identify and correct errors.
Protecting the corrupt
But MCAs accused the Senate and the Office of the Auditor-General of sitting on audit reports and protecting the corrupt.
They
said besides delays in receiving audit reports, some governors have
openly shown disrespect to the Senate and are walking around scot-free.
However,
Mr Gichana said the office of the Auditor-General has delivered a
number of reports that are still gathering dust amongst oversight
committees both at national and county level.
Steve
Ambulwa from Kakamega County said MCAs have been faulted for siding with
governors yet they have no funding to independently carry out
oversight.
"You can't give one person Sh10 billion to
spend and the person to oversight has nothing to put on the table and
you expect him to safeguard public funds," he said.
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