KEY POINTS:
- Migori Governor Okoth Obado has been flagged over unexplained expenditures amounting to more than Sh500 million by the office of the Auditor General.
- The audit report shows Migori county did not get value for money in multimillion-shilling projects it implemented and it said the county breached laws on recruitment and compensation of staff.
Migori Governor Okoth Obado has been flagged over unexplained expenditures amounting to more than Sh500 million by the office of the Auditor General.
The audit report shows Migori county did not get value for money in multimillion-shilling projects it implemented and it said the county breached laws on recruitment and compensation of staff.
The report on the county executive by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the year ended June 2019 flagged a number of irregular and unsupported expenditures, triggering concerns about use of public funds.
Obado and his county administration’s expenditures include payment of legal fees, purchase of fuel for use by county vehicles and payment for road projects.
The report tabled in the Senate by Deputy Majority leader Fatuma Dullo said the county improperly y paid Sh20.45 million to five law firms.
However, a review of details of the payments revealed that the cases involved disputes between the local authorities and the employees of the county executive.
“The management is spending money in cases that could be resolved through alternative conflict resolution. In the circumstances, the legality of the expenditure on legal fees …. could not be ascertained,” the report reads.
Further, the auditor flagged the expenditure of Sh295.17 million on road projects. The money was used to maintain 98 roads.
“A review of the maintenance expenditure, bills of quantities and project verification revealed that much of this expenditure was incurred on gravel patching.
“The maintenance of earth roads through patch graveling is basically a temporary measure and is expensive as it requires regular maintenance annually. In the circumstance, the value for money of the expenditure could not be ascertained,” it says.
The auditor also questioned the expenditure of Sh63.53 million for the purchase of fuel, oil and lubricants as the county lacks a clear policy and guidelines on fuel authorisation and approval levels with sufficient checks and balances.
“The management did not perform regular checks and reconciliations between the entries in the work tickets with the suppliers’ credentials. In the circumstance, the legality of the expenditure of Sh63.53 million cannot be confirmed,” it reads.
In addition, the audit questioned how the county government paid Sh11.69 million in bursary disbursements without relevant documents.
The application forms were not supported with adequate relevant documents including copies of the students’ school identity cards, fee statement balances and admission letters.
Further, the bursary subcommittee did not provide remarks on the status of the assessments of the applicants and the criteria used to award the bursaries.
“In the circumstances, the accuracy, completeness and validity of the expenditure on bursaries of Sh11.69 million could not be confirmed,” the auditor said in the report.
This puts Obado on the radar being the county boss. Governor Obado still has pending cases and raising of the red flag by auditor general makes it even worse for him.
However, Obado has survived numerous court cases which until is name has become famous in the corridors of justice.
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