Unholy alliance in counties breeding graft – Nyakang’o

An unholy alliance between governors and MCAs in certain counties is compromising oversight and fostering corruption.

Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o says some governors are evading accountability issues due to their association with MCAs.

“Some MCAs align themselves with governors, thereby undermining the fight against corruption,” she said.

Nyakang’o’s assertions are a serious indictment of the ward representatives, who are mandated by law to provide primary oversight of the county executives to curb graft, waste and excesses.

The country’s budget chief spoke during the ongoing fifth legislative summit led by the County Assemblies Forum in Nairobi.

Nyakang’o said ward representatives are tasked with examining expenditure reports, investigating financial mismanagement and holding county executives accountable. Besides their alignment with governors, the ward reps face capacity challenges, especially financial expertise, to scrutinise the accounting books.

“Limited financial expertise among MCAs hinders budget analysis,” she said. It also emerged that inadequate funding is restricting oversight committees at the county assembly level.

In some counties, the executives are flatly ignoring summons by MCAs to explain their spending, with others turning a blind eye on the recommendations of the county assemblies.

Weak oversight, Nyakang’o said, is providing a fertile ground for corruption to thrive. Corruption is mainly manifested through outright misappropriation, huge expenditures on ghost projects and inflated contracts, she said.

Three former governors – Daniel Waithaka (Nyandarua), Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu) and Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu) – have been convicted of corruption. Last week, the court convicted Waithaka of procurement irregularities.

The former governor was convicted alongside former County Executive Committee Member for Water, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Grace Gitonga.

The court found them guilty of two other charges of engaging in a project without prior planning and willful failure to comply with procurement laws.

In February, the court found Waititu and his wife, Susan Ndung’u, guilty of various charges in the Sh588 million road tender graft case.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison or a fine of Sh53.5 million. In August last year, the Anti-Corruption Court in Milimani found Lenolkulal and 10 others guilty of the 2013 -2019 scandal, in which he supplied fuel to his county.

The CoB now wants the capacity of the MCAs enhanced through training, especially on financial oversight.

“County assemblies are critical in ensuring fiscal accountability in devolved governance,” the budget controller said.

She also challenged the ward reps to implement lessons learned from their many benchmarking trips.

Nyakang’o also wants the legal frameworks strengthened and clear penalties introduced against executives who fail to comply with oversight requirements.