Machakos assembly taken to task for diverting Sh36m
Chairperson Senate County Public Accounts Committee Moses Kajwang (Centre) Senator Agnes Kavindu and Senator Richard Momoima Onyonka during the session at KICC, Nairobi on Monday, October 23, 2023. Machakos County Assembly Speaker Anne Kiusya and clerk Joseph Mutisya appeared before the committee.
What you need to know:
- Clerk Joseph Mutisya told Senate watchdog committee that the money was used on hospitality, insurance and vehicle maintenance.
- This assembly has huge pending bills which have been carried forward from previous financial years dating back as far as 2013.
Machakos County Assembly is on the spot for diverting Sh36 million from the Exchequer meant for settling pending bills even as the assembly grapples with a Sh107.7 million debt.
Speaker Anne Kiusya and Clerk Joseph Mutisya told a Senate watchdog committee that they spent the money mostly on hospitality which gobbled up Sh19 million.
The county assembly had received Sh36 million from the Exchequer following approval from the Senate to settle pending bills but diverted the money to operational expenses. The committee was considering audit reports for the financial years ended June 2020 and 2021.
Appearing before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, Mr Mutisya told the committee chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ that the money was used on hospitality, insurance and vehicle maintenance.
This assembly has huge pending bills which have been carried forward from previous financial years dating back as far as 2013.
“The Senate increased your ceiling by Sh36 million so that you could settle pending bills but you diverted the money to buy chai and mandazi. It means you got the nod for upward review of your ceilings through false pretence. You requisitioned for purpose X but used it for purpose Y,” said Mr Kajwang’.
The assembly could also not satisfactorily explain why the pending bills have been outstanding for such a long time.
The committee gave the assembly three months to come up with a plan on how to settle the pending bills.
The clerk defended the diversion of the funds, saying they had to use the funds for unintended expenses because of budgetary constraints.
Nonetheless, the county assembly’s woes did not end there as the Auditor-General, Nancy Gathungu, flagged the assembly for huge pending bills relating to legal fees.
Out of the Sh47 million eligible pending bills, Sh37 million relates to legal fees owed to two law firms.
“From what we are seeing here, there is a big problem in Machakos County. How can the bulk of the pending bills be legal fees? This is the same thing we witnessed with the county executive,” said Mr Kajwang’.
“It looks like the county assembly and the county executive have high affinity for legal services,” added Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei.
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo questioned why they opted to engage high-end lawyers and not lawyers from the county despite having a legal department.
Senator Kajwang’ also asked why the assembly has not settled the outstanding fees since 2013 despite knowing that it will continue to attract interest.
Mr Mutisya told the committee the huge legal fees was related to an election petition in 2013 and that the assembly had written to the two law firms in 2015 for a deliberation over the fees by going for taxation in court to no fruition.
Assembly faulted
He added that there are documentation gaps in relation to the pending legal fees and that is why the matter continues to drag.
“On one hand you are saying there are documentation gaps yet you want to go for taxation meaning you have already admitted liability. What is not happening here?” posed Mr Kajwang’.
Nyandarua Senator John Methu, however, faulted the current assembly administration for failing to demonstrate they are doing something to settle the matter.
“Everything must be put in order. You are now in office, stop saying it happened when you were not in office,” said Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu.
The assembly was also fingered for inter-entity borrowing where they raided the mortgage fund account to fund its operations, which is a violation of the law.
“This has not been a one-off but a habit. If it does not stop then we will ask the EACC to take interest in the matter because laws cannot be made then you violate them,” said Mr Kajwang’.
