Bungoma spends 6.7M fueling unauthorized vehicles, MCAs and corridor employees included as Wangamati leads Kanduyi into emerging 2nd in land-rates defaulting

In Summary;

• Why a Chief officer is to be surcharged
• Wangamati leads Long Outstanding Uncollected Property Rates
• Unauthorized Fueled Vehicles (list)
• Unsupported Air Travel Tickets
• 12m expended on Air Travel without any approval
• Assembly directs the Executive on lands inventory taskforce report
• Committee Observations / Recommendations
• #iKUWEiKUWE Corner

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the Report of the Auditor General in respect to the financial statements of the County Executive of Bungoma for the period beginning 1 ^st July, 2018 to 30^th June, 2019 is as follows;

“There were lapses in terms of fuel management which led to irregular fuel drawn by unauthorized vehicles as observed from the appendices herein totaling to Kshs. 6,797,162.15. There was an excess of Kshs. 265,370 drawn on fuel over and above the audit findings as per the availed response…” read part of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the auditor General’s report of the County Executive of Bungoma for the year ended 30^th June 2019.

Among the unauthorized beneficiaries are vehicles used by;

• County-Militia’s designate vehicle KCG 202 K consumed fuel worth 1.5million and was infamous for carrying goons and crude weapons. It was once used to attack Siboti MCAs ward office as well as a church he had gone to worship.
• Others include; Governor’s father, Soysambu MCA, Bukembe East MCA, Kimilili MCA, Naomi Purity, Nancy Kibaba, Aggrey Namisi, Bonnie Wayne Nyongesa, Mulama, Rama, TieTie,…

The Assembly has directed that the Chief officer must be Surcharged and a report tabled in the assembly in 50 days. Failure to which the assembly will take further drastic action on the CEC finance

Table 1; Unauthorized Fueled Vehicles

PRIVATE VEHICLES D/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE – KSH 1,553,719

Download report to know the vehicles and their owners;  REPORT BY PAC ON THE BUNGOMA COUNTY EXECUTIVE

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 Ksh. 2,068,484,305 under use of goods and services which constitutes an expenditure of Ksh. 23,346,053 on air travel and subsistence. Examination of records on foreign travel and subsistence revealed that payments totaling Ksh.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

Table 16. Department of Gender, Culture, Youth and Sports Project Implementation Status

Long Outstanding Uncollected Property Rates

The statement of receipts and payments reflects County Executive’s own generated receipts of Ksh.674, 998,437 as poll (land) rates of Ksh.16, 042,434. However, the County Executive had land rates arrears not collected since the inception of the County Government totaling Kshs. 125,283,300 as at 30 June, 2019 as highlighted below:

Committee Observations

Under the Department of Education, it was observed that Ksh. 900,000 in the budget meant for bursary was reallocated to a ward development project (School support program in Kapkateny ward)

Under the Department of Water and Natural Resources, Sirare water project has never taken off despite it being an inherited government project and reported to be at 50% complete. A site visit established that no works were ongoing; no pump installed and water kiosks and pipeline not done.

The Department of Youth and Sports had an allocation for the Construction of Nalondo Stadium and completion of High Altitude Training Center as appropriated by the County Assembly, but the allocation has since been reallocated by the County Treasury to other functions.

The Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, lrrigation and Co-operatives failed to implement a reasonable number of projects to their completion as per the work-plans and budgetary provisions

The committee noted a lapse between the Department of Lands and other Departments on matters of acquisition of land on which projects were meant for other Departments. In addition, there lacks due diligence on the status of land ownership over land being purchased by the County Government of Bungomathusresulting to slow absorption of the Department’s development vote.

The taskforce report on the land inventory is still unavailable despite the activity having been undertaken in three phases and facilitated to a tune of Ksh. 12,177,000 vide imprest warrant numbers, 2764500,3150673 and 3150681 respectively.

Under the Department of Trade, Energy and Industrialization six projects that were on-going are now complete making 13 complete projects

Committee Recommendations

 For the purposes of section 151 of the PFM Act, 2012, unless there is any other justifiable or reasonable cause to the contrary, a public officer or an accounting officer is under an obligation to ensure that;

Public funds are spent especially in circumstances where the same are provided for and there is due authorization by the Constitution, an Act of parliament or County legislation. In the circumstances, the management failed to provide satisfactory responses as to why they failed to implement all the planned projects to completion during the period under review, and as a consequence of which, effective delivery may not have been rendered to the residents of the County.

The Departments should make demonstrable efforts by coming up with realistic program based budget output activities that can be implemented within a financial year to spur growth which will be beneficial to the residents of the County rather than allocating funds that cannot be absorbed as intended.

As, a matter of urgency, this Committee recommends that the Sector Committee on Lands inquiries into and investigates on all issues of the land owned by the County Government of Bungoma and tables its report within 60 days from the date of adoption of this report.

There is need to have a sensitization forum between the County Department of Lands, Urban, Physical Planning and the respective ward leadership in regard to land purchased at the wards for various projects with a view of fast tracking the current impasse beholding issues on acquired pieces of Land by the County Government of Bungoma

Failure to avail the lands inventory taskforce report to the County Assembly within 60 days from the date of adoption of this report, the CECM responsible in the Department of Lands and the then accounting officer will be held personally liable/responsible for the loss of Ksh 12,177,000 that facilitated the exercise.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

The committee as currently constituted comprises of the following members;

OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL

1. Gideon Tom Isiaha

#iKUWEiKUWE Corner;

• Am sure you are wondering why I mentioned Wangamati in my header; Being the person behind BONITO PROPERTIES “leasing” of Tourist Hotel in the run to elections, Wangamati negotiated the deal where he pledged to WAIVER the hotel’s land-rates of about 20million then. To this day the bill has not been settled as it continues to accrue
• #iKUWEiKUWE has consulted some of the vehicle owners who have distanced any association with the county with one saying “hiyo ni ukora ya hawa watu”