MPs have turned the heat on Auditor General Nancy Gathungu over her reports exposing massive misuse and unaccounted for bursaries cash running into millions of shillings.
Members of the National Assembly’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) took issue with the ‘malicious reports that portray them as thieves.’
According to the lawmakers, they have been accused of failing to account for the bursaries they issued due to a lack of acknowledgements by the receiving institutions.
“If you say so and so cannot account for Sh100 million, you have already painted that person as a thief,” Matungu MP Oscar Nabulindo lamented.
Since the advent of the Constituency Development Fund, which the MPs use to issue bursaries, the auditor general has released damning reports that expose wastage and misuse of bursaries.
In most cases, the MPs cannot account for bursaries due to a missing list of beneficiaries, a lack of acknowledgements by various institutions and bouncing cheques.
The MPs spoke during a meeting with Deputy Auditor General Isaac Kamau on the operation and challenges the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) faces in the implementation of audit recommendations across government entities.
They demanded to know whether the audit reports are being used maliciously or politically to malign them, adding the media has aided in portraying them in a bad light.
“They [media] report things you have not presented to us. You find an alarming headline in the newspapers claiming that an MP cannot account for bursaries,” Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna said.
The MP went ahead and demanded to know whether the OAG has been holding engagement with the media on accurate reporting of its reports.
“OAG has been very controversial in terms of the reports and contents therein. How do you gauge your performance in terms of checking how public money has been utilised?” Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji posed.
“Let this office’s reports not be seen as malicious,” Gitonga said.
The MPs further lamented a directive by the OAG, requiring them to use the postal office (Posta) to deliver cheques to learning institutions.
They said using ‘Posta’ to deliver cheques and receive an acknowledgement note via the same channel is time-consuming.
This, they said, they said, has delayed the acknowledgement notes from the institutions, leading to audit queries by the OAG.
“Why should I go to the post office in Kakamega, which is 30km away, to deposit a cheque when I can just walk to school to deliver it?” Nabulindo posed.
However, OAG deputy boss Kamau defended the office, saying the officers file their reports based on the information and documentation provided to them at the time of the audit.
“Audits are done on certain dates. As of that date, you must account for money that is out and money that is in,” Kamau said.
“The accountability we want to see is that when money was released to Isaac at Pwani University, we want to see that money credited to Isaac.”
The deputy OAG explained that the audit process has a latitude for their clients to explain themselves and provide necessary documentation.
He said the clients have an entry and exit meeting with the auditor as well as 14 days to respond to the management letter to explain themselves.
The clients also have access to the draft reports, which gives them the window to make their final input.
Kamau said that, unlike the previous years, when the state entities had a longer period to provide their financial documents to the auditors, the time has been reduced due to a court ruling that required the OAG to release all reports by December 31.
The OAG defended itself from allegations of corruption by some of its officers, who demand huge bribes from accounting officers.
We understand that accounting officers have to budget for auditors. How are you handling this matter of corruption internally?” committee vice chairperson William Kamket posed.
Kamau said the OAG has ceased the allegations and complaints about the corrupt and unethical conduct of some officers.
He said those implicated in the vice have been dismissed, suspended or disciplined as per the law.
Kamau said OAG has instituted internal mechanisms, including the conditional signing of the code of conduct by its officers and frequent reshuffles (every three years).
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