Constitutional mandate: Doubts cast on senators core oversight role
Despite their constitutional mandate that requires them to protect funds disbursed to counties, Senators are grappling with claims of doing little to avert theft in counties.
There are amplified calls for Parliament to formulate legislation to make the Upper House proactive in tackling monumental pilferage of funds at the county level.
This is as a result of concerns that Senate has been doing belated activities of scrutinising damning reports by office of the Auditor General, Controller of Budget and Senate’s committee on Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) as well as commenting on Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission probes that since the advent of devolution exposed massive theft by county officials.
There is consensus even among Senators that the Upper House must have a proactive approach in the oversight role to avert further misappropriation, with its members pushing to have an oversight kitty to facilitate an effective pre-expenditure oversight.
Proper audit
Doubts have also been cast on the ability of county assemblies to independently play their oversight roles, with some grappling with claims of “going to bed” with respective governors.
Some county bosses have been accused of abusing assemblies’ financial dependence on executive to suppress oversight role by manipulating MCAs using money.
Laikipia Senator Joseph Kinyua, who has served as the chair of the House Committee of Devolution and Inter-Governmental Relations, said lack of proper audit mechanisms that are pre-emptive, and failure to give senators facilitation to undertake oversight have exposed public funds to theft and turned the Senate less active player in protecting county resources.
“Senate has been operating like a mortician and not like a surgeon like we are supposed to be.
In our oversight role, we have been dealing with a dead patient (already stolen monies) instead of handling the patient to ensure he or she survives by ensuring that we act before money is misappropriated,” Kinyua told People Daily.
For instance, in one of the recent cases currently being probed by CPAIC relating to Kiambu County Government, the Senate was left to cry foul after the Auditor General highlighted, among other things, how five junior accounting officers siphoned over Sh235 million through fictitious imprest during the tenure of ousted Governor Ferdinand Waititu between 2018 and 2019 financial year.
“Examination of expenditure records indicated that imprest payments totaling Sh235,503,125 issued to five officers, and which were outstanding at the closure of the financial year on June 30, 2019, were not recorded in the imprests register.
In view of the omission, the financial statements do not present a true and fairview of the operations and financial position of the County Executive for the year then ended,” the Auditor General report for the financial year ending June 30, 2019 read in part.
In the case, Charles Mburu, an assistant accountant pocketed Sh60 million, Joyce Nyambura, a junior clerical officer, auditors established that she had irregularly received Sh58 million, John Mwangi, an accountant got Sh47 million, Samuel Mbithu, an account assistant got Sh40 million while Edward Gachomba, a chief clerical officer received Sh28 million. Executive, in response said: “The imprests were issued in an unprocedural manner to the five officers, purpose for which could not be established.
We have commenced disciplinary processes for officers still under the county public service. For officers who are not with the county public service, we have written letters to notify them to account for the funds.”
When Governor James Nyoro appeared before the committee over the queries, he confirmed to the committee that the five had acknowledged drawing the imprest irregularly, and went ahead to tell the Migori Senator Achilo Ayako-led committee that they had revealed that after collecting the “uncounted and undisclosed imprest”, they would pass it to Waititu and former Finance chief officer Faith Harrison.
Red flags
Critics argue that senators come in too late when already money has been stolen and their work has only been shouting on who and how the money has been stolen.
Auditor General, Joseph Kamau, a governance expert says, there should be active offices in counties, and instead of giving reports one year after the expenditures and money stolen, they should monitor day-to-day activities, and based on the indicators, give red flags through periodic reports that can help avert theft or wastage before it has already happened.
EACC has already adopted a pro-active approach to the war against graft, and has also been sending warnings to governors where there is a possibility of abuse of offices.
So far, the Twalib Mbarak-led commission, according to a recent report, has issued over 400 advisories to counties and other public institutions to seal corruption loopholes and institutionalise ethics and integrity in their systems, and averted loss of approximately Sh21.9 billion through preemptive investigation and disruption of corruption networks.
Senate Majority Whip and Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi said given the pattern at which public resources are being squandered by unscrupulous Government officials as highlighted by Auditor General reports and other investigations, there was need to come with a formula that is ahead to avert misappropriation.
