Kericho Governor Erick Mutai has been put on the spot after Senators uncovered that the Kericho municipality, which was formed as far back as 1902, only exists on paper.
While appearing before the Senate County Public Investments & Special Funds Committee, the dysfunction of the municipality and illegal waivers of over Ksh13 million were revealed.
This is despite the municipality having 252 approved positions, a situation that the senators claimed made the municipality function independently from county control.
According to the Committee Chair, Senator Godfrey Osotsi, the situation basically meant that the Kericho municipality only exists on paper, as it cannot function with just one employee.
"What we are seeing in Kericho is a municipality that exists only on paper. You must allow the board and its management to operate independently as envisioned in the Act."
Besides this discrepancy, the Senate committee also flagged illegal waivers totalling Ksh13,359,421 granted to patients at Kericho County Referral Hospital without proper legal backing.
The committee's Vice Chair, Senator Eddy Oketch, told the governor that the lack of legal backing opened doors for abuse and loss of public funds.
"You cannot grant waivers of over Ksh13 million based on discretion without a policy or budgetary approval. This appears to be a flagrant violation of the Act, and it opens the door for abuse and loss of public funds," he stated.
This was seemingly backed by the hospital's financial statements, which revealed staggering inaccuracies, including unexplained variances of Ksh33,264,342 in net assets and Ksh59,179,387 in cash flows.
Senator William Kisang threatened disciplinary action against the responsible accountant, claiming, "It is inconceivable that a professional accountant would append their signature to a document with such glaring discrepancies."
Additionally, the committee also flagged the incomplete Kericho Modern Market project, where 70 per cent of contract payments had already been disbursed.
Despite full payments of this amount, which totalled about Ksh164.4 million, the works had yet to be finished, and the contractor bonds had already expired.
