The Auditor-General’s report for the 2023/2024 financial year has laid bare rampant corruption and mismanagement in county assemblies across the country.
From wanton plunder of public funds to unethical practices and gross mismanagement, the report paints a grim picture of the 47 assemblies as shells devoid of moral authority.
The report states that illegal payments are made to Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) speakers, and senior officials. And county assemblies fail to remit statutory deductions from employees, the completion of development projects in order to inflate costs.
Additionally, the report exposes human rights abuses, poor internal audit systems, and violations of employment laws.
Others ills in the report are irregularities in legal contracts, non-compliance with ward partisan staffing levels, non-compliance with the law on ethnic composition, pending bills, and illegal procurement and failure to implement an e-procurement system. The report states that speakers’ residences were unutilised as they draw house allowances.
Three counties; Vihiga, Migori, and Nairobi got adverse opinions.
The Auditor-General said that accounting systems are so poor that in one of the counties, salaries, and allowances are paid through a mysterious bank account shared by 77 employees.
After the review of the integrated personnel and payroll database, the Auditor-General established variances between staff establishment and the actual number of employees, explaining why it was possible for money to be paid through the same bank account for the 77 employees, but which is not a joint account.
In Nairobi, the Auditor-General found the county assembly could not account for more than Sh905 million, which includes Sh258 million for unsupported salary advance, unsupported Sh36 million for foreign travels, Sh12 million for unsupported local travels, Sh279 million unsupported motor vehicle reimbursements, and Sh310 million for misclassification of expenditure.
There was also no evidence the City County Assembly remitted Sh67 million statutory deducts for Pay as You Earn (Sh64 million) and Sh3.5 million NHIF deductions.
In Nyandarua County, the report shows that there were unsupported payments for special house allowances of Sh70 million, but the management provided no approval from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for the payments.
The assembly was also unable to account for Sh139 million inclusive of Sh79 million for mileage allowances and Sh60 million subsistence allowances done outside the IFMIS, and questions payment of Sh640, 000 to the Speaker within the year under review. Statutory deductions were also not remitted.
Makueni Assembly lacks an Audit Committee, and is also accused of double payment allowances to the MCAs, use of manual payment payroll through which Sh32 million was paid, spent Sh52,925,580 on the ward offices management against the CRA ceiling of Sh15,728,832.
