By Manuel Odeny, @TheNyanzaNews
County governments should undergo rigorous audits to help stem out runaway corruption, senators have said.
The Senate challenged the Office of the Auditor General to audit entities engaged by counties to collect own-source revenue and scrutinize what has been declared.
Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina said the process by the Auditor General to audit own-source revenue for counties should be improved instead of relying on what counties declare.
“Many counties tend to understate or overestimate their revenue collection,” ole Kina told Auditor General Nancy Gathungu when she appeared before the Senate.
Gathungu appeared before the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee.
Migori Senator Eddy Oketch said most counties have over 200 official bank accounts.
Gathungu responded that it is unnecessary for counties to have such a large number of accounts.
“I am glad that we are having a national conversation about the duplication of funds at both the national and county levels, particularly bursaries, as this has been a loophole for siphoning public funds that fail to serve their intended purpose,” Gathungu remarked.
She said they are auditing 12,000 public entities across the country with the process being strained by insufficient budget and a limited number of officers tasked with auditing financial statements.
“My office is responsible for auditing 12,000 public entities across the country with an insufficient budget. We will do our best to audit the own-source revenue collected by counties, which amounts to billions of shillings, to ensure fiscal discipline,” Gathungu stated.
Gathungu said it would be illegal to advocate for an amendment to the Public Finance Management Act, citing numerous cases of corruption among revenue collectors contracted by counties..
She also blamed governors for late document submissions to the auditor and senate committee appearances despite for them to be ready by the end of each financial year.
During the appearance the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) was fingered to failing to investigate various recommendations for investigations into county activities by the auditor.
