Taxpayers may have lost millions of shillings in irregular payments by the National Youth Service (NYS), a new audit reveals.
The report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu shows that NYS made payments amounting to ShSh49 million without documentation, Sh7.5 million gratuity to an official facing corruption charges while Sh161 million provided as grants and subsidies for rehabilitating a railway line and controlling locusts cannot be accounted for.
“The statement of financial performance reflects an amount of Sh1,094,972,809 in respect of employees’ costs. Included is Sh7,531,909 paid to the former Director-General in form of gratuity,” says the report for the fiscal year ending June 2020.
Mr Nelson Githinji and Mr Richard Ndubai served as NYS Directors-General before they were hounded out of office.
Mr Githinji was named NYS Director-General in May 2014 but was forced to quit in November 2015. He was succeeded by Mr Ndubai in January 2016, who left office under similar circumstances in May 2018.
He was succeeded by Matilda Sakwa, the current NYS boss.
NYS is also on the spot for spending Sh379 million on fuel, oil and lubricants.
The statement of financial performance reflects Sh14,963,508,572 in relation to use of goods and services, with Sh379,715,177 spent on fuel, oil and lubricants.
Examination of sampled payment vouchers on fuel amounting to Sh49,128,545 showed they were unsupported.
The NYS also spent Sh161,172,986 provided to it as grants and subsidies, the report by Ms Gathungu says.
The amount comprised payments of Sh9,999,100 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for desert locust control, Sh6,501,593 by the Ministry of Health for coronavirus mitigation, Sh79,594,355 by the Kenya Ports Authority for ports rehabilitation and Sh65,077,937 by Kenya Railways Corporation for line repairs.
“Ledgers in support of the amounts were not provided for audit. Consequently, the accuracy, completeness and validity of the expenditure of Sh161,172,986 on grants and subsidies for the year ended June 30, 2020, cannot be confirmed,” the Auditor-General says in her report.
It also spent Sh2,505,000 on allowances to 18 members of the NYS Multi Agency Pending Bills Verification Committee that was constituted by the Cabinet Secretary.
Another Sh2,516,000 was paid in form of task force allowances to staff engaged in interviews.
The payments were, however, not subjected to Pay as You Earn as required by the Income Tax Act and the Employers Guide to Pay as You Earn Part 1, resulting in an overpayment of Sh751,500 to the members National Youth Service Multi Agency Pending Bills Verification Committee and Sh754,800 to staff engaged in interviews.
