Audit: PSC on the spot over Sh569m mileage claims
National Assembly buildings. Members of the previous Parliament pocketed at least Sh569 million mileage allowances without clear guidelines, a report by the Auditor-General Edward Ouko shows. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
According to the report for the 2015/16 financial year, the payments were made in two batches.
The first amount of Sh299 million was paid in 2015/16, and Sh270 million was paid in the year under review.
The financial documents provided for scrutiny, also reflected anomalies in the use of funds, says Mr Ouko.
Members of the previous Parliament pocketed at least Sh569 million mileage allowances without clear guidelines, a report by the Auditor-General Edward Ouko shows.
Mr Ouko, in his latest audit report, implicated the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) for what it says was a unilateral payment of the claims to MPs, without supporting documents and guidelines issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
According to the report for the 2015/16 financial year, the payments were made in two batches, with the first amount of Sh299 million paid in 2015/16, and Sh270 million paid in the year under review.
PENDING BILLS
“The explanation provided by the accounting officer on the matter was that the PSC had resolved to continue engaging with SRC to clarify what mileage allowance is payable to members who travel beyond 750 kilometres per month,” says Mr Ouko.
The financial documents provided for scrutiny, also reflected anomalies in the use of funds, says Mr Ouko.
For instance, while the statement of receipts and payments for the year under review reflected an expenditure of Sh4,874 million on use of goods and services, also included in this figure was an amount of Sh620 million relating to mileage allowances.
The National Assembly, also accrued pending bills totalling Sh197 million as at June 30 2016, which if had been paid in time, would have reduced the House’s debt burden to Sh9,274,271 instead of Sh188 million recorded in the report.
WEAK SYSTEMS
And while MPs have in the past defended their right to earning mileage allowances, a number of the members have been accused of abusing the system, leading to loss of billions of shillings of taxpayers’ money.
A report released by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in 2015, for instance, said Parliament uses up to Sh1.8 billion a year on mileage compensation only, as MPs use what it termed weak systems to pocket millions of shillings on mileage claims.
The audit report has also implicated the PSC for paying Sh62 million to a local and international companies as interest incurred due to delayed payments for renovation works in the Senate chamber and Parliamentary offices.
“Had the contractor bills been settled on time, the total expenditure of Sh62 million incurred on interest on delayed payments would have been avoided,” says Mr Ouko.
