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We spent Sh3.7m on 27 cows, Kisumu County tells Ouko

Ayrshire dairy cow.
By VICTOR RABALLA
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Kisumu County government has denied spending Sh3.7 million to buy one dairy cow.

Agriculture CEC Gilchrist Okuom says the money was spent on 27 dairy cows and not one cow as reported.

He said that no public funds were lost in the purchase.

The Auditor-General Edward Ouko had raised audit queries on undelivered dairy animals.

In his report, Mr Ouko faulted the devolved unit for allocating the funds to buy Ayrshire cows in the financial year 2017/2018.

According to the report, the county government availed documents for only one cow for audit, raising questions on the purchase of 26 others.

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DISTRIBUTED

Responding on Friday, Mr Okuom noted that the cows were distributed in all the five sub counties including Kisumu East (7), Kisumu West (6), Kisumu Central (5), Seme (5) and four for Nyando.

“The documentations were missing as at the time of the audit but the allocation list and the beneficiaries can be traced using their mobile phone numbers to confirm receipts of the animals,” he told Nation.

As per the delivery note, Mr Okuom indicated that the animals were delivered on May 29, 2017 and distributed to farmers in different sub counties.

He, however, acknowledged that some beneficiaries did not deserve to be given the animals.

“The programme ought to have considered factors like climatic conditions and proper training of the farmers before giving out the dairy cows which were expected to uplift their living standards,” he said.

DEATH

“Ayrshire dairy cows need intensive care and some beneficiaries could have failed to maintain the standards, leading to the death of the animals,” Mr Okuom added.

Mr Ouko also noted that the county did not inform bidders who lost the tender award as required in the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015.

He said that Ahero Sky Enterprise was the winning bidder for the supply of the 27 in-calf dairy cows at Sh136,900 each, bringing the sum total to Sh3,696,300.

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