Auditor General piles more pressure on besieged Sonko

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's woes are seemingly soaring after an Auditor General's report revealed unaccounted cash withdrawals and irregular payments running into billions.

The report on Nairobi County Executive for the year ended June 30, showed cash withdrawals of more than Sh209 million for unspecified payments, which were not supported by appropriated authority, documentation and pre-numbered vouchers.

This is contrary to the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.

Examination of bank statements relating to supreme business and current accounts at Equity Bank revealed that the Executive withdrew Sh206.3 million for unspecified payments.

“Further, various withdrawals totaling Sh3 million from Nairobi City County Trust account at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in July last year, in respect to an officer, has not been explained or supported by documents,” read the report.

Similarly, an examination of IFMIS payment schedules revealed that various suppliers were irregularly paid using Sh381.8 million contrary to the Public Finance Management Act 2012, which requires the county Treasurer to ensure proper management, control and accounting for the finances of the county government.

The Auditor General also said the Executive's KCB current account was overdrawn by Sh3.7 million on June 30, last year and no documentary evidence was produced for audit review to confirm a prior approval of the overdraft by county Treasury or County Government board.

A review of cash and cash equivalents further revealed there were undisclosed bank account balances of over Sh3 billion held in some bank accounts as of June 30, last year and was not included in the financial statements.

The accounts were named as Pumwani Hospital Management Board at National Bank with Sh2,644,789, Mama Lucy Hospital at KCB with Sh18,898,100 and another KCB loan account with Sh3,024,371,706.

“In view of this, the accuracy and completeness of cash and cash equivalents balance of Sh1,848,976,871as at June 30, 2018 cannot be confirmed,” the report indicated.

On the revenue account maintained at Cooperative Bank, the report cited irregular debits of over Sh6 billion during the year under review.

“The revenue was being withdrawn from the account contrary to provisions of Article 207 of the Constitution, Public Finance Management Act 2012 and Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations 2015, which requires the county Executive to bank all revenue collected or received into the county revenue fund, except as provided for in the law,” the report stated.

There were also unexplained cash receipts of over Sh5.3 billion at Cooperative Bank, which was claimed by the county Executive as having been a direct banking but was not captured in the statement.

• Governor Sonko
• Nairobi County