- Homabay Senator Moses Kajwag’ chairing the County Public Accounts Committee demands Migori County Assembly to explain how they spent Sh 958M
- Senators gives Migori County Assembly 14 days ultimatum to submit records over unexplained Sh56 Million expenditure
- The County Assembly and the Clerk defended that DCI took all their documents for investigations and when they sought them back during audit query, were not available from their custody
The Senate watchdog committee has asked the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to do a thorough investigation into Migori County Assembly to find out how their budget for 2018/2019 financial year amounting to Sh958 million was spent
Led by Homabay Senator Moses Kajwag’ the senators told EACC to expedite the process with a view of making arrests, prosecuting and charging the culpable individuals who might have squandered the amount in question under the period in review
“Sh 958 Million can do a lot of projects, I feel bad if that amount was misappropriated, anyone found culpable should be taken to jail including their wives and gilfriends as it has happened in my county,’ Kajwang ordered
The Senators, also, Busia Senator Okiya Omtata, Kisii Senator Dr Richard Onyanka, perturbed by the responses from the Migori County Assembly, said the senate will write a kettter to Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to give them the status of their investigations into the disappearance of the supporting documents
Kajwag’ observed that DCI cannot be allowed to take years investigating the alleged corruption without making any progress of possible economic fraud and criminality
He particularly named some suspended officials while some are said to be still earning salary and allowances including Evans Ogutu Ouma, Emmanuel Aballa and Tom Onyango
They (Senators) sought Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPA-K) to revoke their membership status and recommend disciplinary action
Unsupported Expenditure of Sh 56 Million for the County Assembly
Additionally, the Committee gave Migori County Assembly ultimatum of 14 days to do a reconstructive accounts explaining how they spent Sh56 for the year ended June 30th 22020
Appearing before the County Public Accounts Committee chaired by Homabay Senator Moses Kajwag’, the senators sought in vain documents supporting training, traveling expenses and any other goods and services received from the cash in question
Responding the query, County Assembly Speaker Charles Owino, admitted that they will furnish the committee with the documents after they write to the institutions which provided those services to help them with the documents since theirs not available
The county clerk, Vincentia Awino, confirmed out of Sh 63.1 million budgeted for staff development and training, only Sh 6 million can be accounted for, leaving the question, how the rest was spent
Earlier, the County Assembly had refuted claims of receiving additional Sh78 million form the County Executive, where the latter submitted bank statements to the Auditor General how they wires Sh1.036B to the County Assembly’s banks
According to the AG, County Executive transferred Sh1.036 billion to the County Assembly for their 2019/2020 financial year, but the assembly couldn’t confirm receiving the amount apart from Sh958 Million
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna was very much agitated how the County Assembly from his ODM party can fail to submit supporting documents before the legislative committee, terming them an embarrassment to the party
He particularly called County Speaker to shield his parenthood and crack the whip to finance officers liable in squandering public coffers