Rift Valley Governor Tight-Lipped During Senate Grilling Over Ksh 654 Million
On Monday, the Senate Committee on County Public Accounts grilled Uasin Gishu County Governor Jonathan Bii about unaccounted-for Ksh654 million in county funds.
During the session, senators directed Bii to submit a schedule outlining how the county spent the missing funds in fiscal year 2022/23.
The governor failed to provide a reconciliation statement outlining how the funds were spent.
He was appearing before the committee to answer questions about discrepancies in the Auditor General’s report.
“You need to provide a schedule detailing how the Ksh654 million was spent,” Moses Kajwang’, who chairs the Committee, instructed the governor.
“Failure to do so, we shall leave this committee with no option but to conclude that the funds have been stolen.”
The disparity in the usage of the funds was discovered when the receipts of the revenue accounts only showed that the county received Ksh9.3 billion during the financial year 2022/23.
However, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) revealed that the county’s transactions totalled Ksh9.9 billion, representing a Ksh654 million disparity.
Uasin Gishu County officials cannot simply answer in front of their governor at the Senate committee.
— DP 🇰🇪 (@DanChepta) October 29, 2024
This is totally embarrassing to the governor Jonathan Bii.
TRUTH BE TOLD pic.twitter.com/YAw1bFqM9D
In his defense, the governor informed the senators that the additional Ksh648 million was a carryover from the previous regime’s reign during the 2019/20 fiscal year.
He insisted that he had reconciled all historical debts, which would be included in the financial report for the fiscal year 2024-25.
The senators found this explanation unsatisfactory, pointing out that governments exist in perpetuity and that as governor, he needed to be aware of all activities in his county, whether he was in office or not.
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“You are the Governor and you can’t tell us about you not being in office,” Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna stated.
The governor was also asked to explain why his administration paid a law firm Ksh6.2 million to represent the county in a mediation process worth Ksh40 million.
This high amount shocked senators because the matter was handled virtually in a platform that did not allow parties to meet, which would have significantly reduced the amount charged.
According to the Advocates Remuneration Order, the value of the subject matter is calculated by adding a fee for getting up and preparing for trial, which is one-quarter of the instruction fees, a fee for preparing court documents, which is charged per page, and a fee for reviewing correspondence.
Rift Valley Governor Tight-Lipped During Senate Grilling Over Ksh 654 Million
