Senate seeks EACC's help to sort out pending bills issue
The Senate is considering seeking help from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate county governments’ pending bills conundrum after Auditor-General Edward Ouko failed to address the matter.
This comes after a meeting between the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee of the Senate, Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo and Mr Ouko said the report is not conclusive.
According to the report, out of the Sh88.94 billion claims of pending bills presented by county governments, some Sh51.284 billion was found to be eligible as at June 30, 2018.
“This report generates more heat than light. It has not clarified or cleared the issues raised,” Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang said after Mr Ouko said the disputed ineligible figures would be addressed by the Intergovernmental Budget Economic Council.
FRAUD
However, Ms Odhiambo told the committee that she has since directed governors to settle the bills that have been cleared by the Auditor-General.
Ms Odhiambo added that Nairobi County government said it had Sh64.8 billion in pending bills for the period under review.
The figure was be whittled down to Sh23.139 billion after the audit, with Ms Odhiambo saying bills before devolution had been included in the list.
She said Nairobi County included items that were not pending bills such as guaranteed loans being serviced by the national government.
But even as Kirinyaga Senator Charles Kibiru said EACC needs to investigate the issue, his Kisii counterpart Sam Ongeri accused the devolved governments of using pending bills claims to steal cash.
“The leaking pot is in the pending bills,” Prof Ongeri said. “We are not out of the woods yet. We are still in the forest. I find it difficult to accept the figures,” he said as it also appeared that counties inflated their bills to attract donor support for projects.
SPECIAL AUDIT
As the senators criticised the report, Mr Ouko defended himself saying he only had a month to recruit independent auditors and present the report.
“I own this audit. If there is any problem, it’s beyond me. The eligible bills should be paid,” Mr Ouko said.
Ms Odhiambo had listed Sh108.41 billion as pending bills, according to figures presented to her office by county governments.
The figure was high, compared to the Sh37 billion as of June 30, 2016. President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Council of Governors met and recommended a special audit to verify the figures.
Mr Ouko said the audit was undertaken by independent firms he recruited for Sh270 million and that the figures came from counties.
However, senators said they were confused after it emerged that the figures presented by counties to the Auditor-General, Controller of Budget and the committee were different.
“These figures are generated by counties and forwarded to us. They do not originate from us,” Ms Odhiambo said.
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