Kitui MCAs who are members of the County Assembly Public Accounts and Investments committee are impervious to bribes, the chairperson Gabriel Munyao declared on Wednesday.
“As members of the committee were a guided by one common stance of being opposed to graft.That is our operating system as we are not out to make dirty money through rent seeking,” said Munyao.
He said Kitui residents and civil society organisations seeking to hold the County Government to account and on check to ensure prudent use of financial resources, thus had a handy partner in the County Assembly Public Accounts Committee.
“We cannot be bribed to subvert the course of justice and allow irregularities. That is the way we are. No one among the five members of my committee is money-minded.
“For us as a committee, the issue on rent-seeking does not arise at all,” he affirmed.
He disclosed that previous attempts to bribe the members hit a brick wall.
Munyao who represents Kauwi ward in Kitui West said in it’s oversight of the Kitui County Executive, his committee members have taken a common anti-graft position. They do not entertain greed for bribes, he added. He vowed that his committee would always question any improper use of public funds by Kitui County Executive and demand that things must be done according to the law.
The Kitui Assembly PAC chairman was addressing a congregation of civil society groups, social auditors, Kitui Assembly MCAs and journalists at the Pastoral Centre in Kitui town. The forum that was hosted by the Kitui Catholic Dioceses Caritas with support from the National Democratic Institute interrogated the Kitui Government 2021-2022 budget audit report.
The Auditor General’s report indicated that in 2021-22, Kitui County then under former governor Charity Ngilu spent KSh.10.66 billion against a budget of KSh. 12.47 billion indicating an under-absorption was at 14 per cent.
The report that was presented by the chairman of the Kitui Civil Societies Network, Kilonzi Kangangi additionally showed that in the year under review, a total of KSh. 2, 937,582,068 was spent on development. Kangangi said that the development spent accounted for 28 per cent of the total expenditure being below the 30 per cent threshold stipulated public finance management regulations.
He added that out of the total expenditure of Sh. 10.66 billion for Kitui County in the year 2021-22, Auditor General questioned the usage of total of KSh. 8.71 billion citing frailties in management of Kitui county finances. Kangangi pointed out that more than half of the queried expenditure pointed to blatant and persistent violation of financial regulations.
“The single most contributing factor is the amount paid for employee compensation with the county having a total expenditure of KSh. 4.3 billion. 11.6 per cent are payments flagged by the Auditor General for not having supporting vouchers,” he pointed.
The civil society official further pointed out that the issue of the pending bills is also fingered in the audit report as the Achilles’ heel accounting for 26 per cent of the queried expenditure.
The Kitui Caritas director, Florence Ndeti, noted that Kenyan taxpayers must be empowered not only to push for prudent, efficient and legal use of resources but to partake on deciding how resources are utilized.
STORY By MWINGI TIMES CORRESPONDENT
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