DAMNING Auditor-General’s report on Bungoma County for the year ended 30 June, 2019

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Nancy Gathungu ~ Auditor General - SAI-Kenya

In Summary;

  • Unauthorized Re-Allocations of Vote Heads
  • Long Outstanding Imprests
  • Employees on Irregularly Extended Probation Periods
  • No annual revenue statements
  • Variances Between Financial Statements and IFMIS General Ledger
  • Irregular Legal Fee Payment
  • Fuel Consumption by Unauthorized Vehicles
  • Foreign travel expended without any approval
  • Incomplete and Stalled projects
  • Downloadable; FULL REPORT
  • #iKUWEiKUWE Corner

DAMNING AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORT ON COUNTY EXECUTIVE OF BUNGOMA FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE, 2019

Basis for Qualified Opinion

  1. Failure to Prepare and Submit Financial Statements for County Revenue Fund for Audit

The receiver of revenue for the County Government of Bungoma did not prepare and submit for audit the annual revenue statements as required by Sections 165(1), (2) and (3) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012. In the circumstances, it was not possible to ascertain the accuracy of the actual revenue collected by the County Executive during the year under review.

  1. Unauthorized Re-Allocations of Vote Heads

The County Executive incurred various expenditures totaling Kshs. 101,093,139 under various vote heads which were different from the approved budget lines. However, there were no requests for and approvals of the re-allocations, contrary to the provisions and requirements of Section 154(2)(b) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.

  1. Variances Between Financial Statements and IFMIS General Ledger

The figures reported in the financial statements did not agree with corresponding account balances in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) records as analyzed in Appendix 1.

In view of the foregoing, the accuracy and completeness of the financial statements for the year ended 30 June, 2019 could not be confirmed.

  1. Irregular Legal Fee Payment

The County Executive sourced for legal services for various court cases and paid Kshs. 59,847,989. Although Management provided schedules for the legal firms showing how the Kshs. 59,847,989 was arrived at, the authenticity of these schedules could not be ascertained as they were not signed and supported,

In the circumstances, the propriety in the utilization of public funds amounting to Kshs. 59,847,989 could not be ascertained.

  1. Fuel Consumption by Unauthorized Vehicles

Examination of records and payment vouchers relating to consumption of fuel, oil and lubricants in the Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s offices revealed that several private vehicles consumed fuel valued at Kshs. 6,531,792 without any authority. Some of these vehicles indicated to have been owned by non-County Executive employees while the ownership of others could not be ascertained as copies of the log books were not availed for audit verification. In particular, an amount of Kshs. 116,566 was spent to fuel vehicles whose registration numbers were not recorded.

Consequently, the Management County Executive management could have led to misappropriation of Kshs. 6,531,792 arising from the consumption of fuel by unauthorised motor vehicles that may not owned by the County Executive.

  1. Unsupported Expenditure on Air Travel Services

As disclosed in Note 8 in the notes to the financial statements, the statement of receipts and payments reflects an expenditure of Kshs. 2,068,484,305 under use of goods and services which constitutes an expenditure of Kshs. 23,346,053 on air travel and subsistence. Examination of records on foreign travel and subsistence revealed that payments totaling Kshs. 12,021,100 was expended without any approval for use of air travel services by the officers. Further, the expenditure was not supported with boarding passes as proof of travel.

Consequently, the propriety of the utilization of Kshs. 12,021,100 on air travel services could not be confirmed.

The audit was conducted in accordance with International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs).  I am independent of County Executive of Bungoma Management in accordance with ISSAI 130 on Code of Ethics. I have fulfilled other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the ISSAI and in accordance with other ethical requirements applicable to performing audits of financial statements in Kenya. I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my qualified opinion.

Download the 18 page auditor’s report for more details; 4_5782688570846218743

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#iKUWEiKUWE Corner;

  • The very concerns we’ve been raising over time… Its time DPPs, EACC and DCI offices stopped side shows and dragged culprits to face the law
  • The Public Accounts Committee is currently undergoing a sensitization training facilitated by the Auditor-General’s office
  • Anytime starting next week, the PAC will be interrogating relevant officers in the aforementioned concerns
  • #iKUWEiKUWE will stream LIVE each session.

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