Varsity chiefs face probe in Sh121m fraud
Top management of Turkana University College allegedly colluded to swindle more than Sh121 million in yet another financial scandal involving looting of public funds through imprest, petty cash, double payment for goods and falsification of documents.
A leaked internal audit report obtained by People Daily says the theft at the Kenya’s youngest public university also involved Sh60,000 honorarium payments, which were made without documentation.
Fictitious budget
The cartel is said to involve the university accountants and individual officers withdrawing huge amounts of money to meet fictitious budget of various departments.
Purchase of goods and services was allegedly done without adhering to rules and regulations stipulated under the Public Procurement and Disposal Act.
Auditors said a sample of the payment vouchers disclosed the accountants and their agents did not have proper documentation to support expenditure.
“As observed, the office has a high appetite for cash transactions,” the audit report by Shadrack Oloo, the internal auditor in charge of State Department for University and Research, says.
No revenue
“The accountants and individual officers withdraw huge amounts to meet the budget of various departments,” it says.
The report shows the budgets are prepared with no structured basis since there is no involvement of the various departments and no revenue taken into account.
For instance, quotations are sought from different towns and there is no list of pre-qualified suppliers.
“Cash procurement of Sh5,124,402 lack details and breakdown and, therefore, these amounts can’t be accounted for,” the report of the audit, carried out between November 26 and December 1, last year, says.
Top on the list of fraudulent transactions identified in the audit was that university vehicles were routinely repaired but the records of the repairs were not available.
“One can’t be sure whether the vehicles are repaired or not,” the auditor says.
On payment procedures and handling of cash imprests, an accountant in the institution is said to have withdrawn Sh5 million on June 8, 2017, and no explanation for the withdrawal was given to the auditors.
This is against the directive by the Central Bank that requires explanations for bank transactions above Sh1 million.
Another Sh2.3 million in imprests for university council members meeting held in Mombasa was withdrawn, a meeting the auditor said may not have taken place.
“There were no indications of receipts of cash showing that it had been spent,” the auditors say.
An additional Sh499,800 was also withdrawn on same day (June 8, 2017) from the bank to cater for meeting and purchase of utensils and water pumps.
There were no indications that the money was spent on the said purpose. “No receipts or taking of items on the charge,” the audit report says.
