The Auditor-General has revealed that Sh175 Million might have been lost in the Ministry of Interior in the procurement of shoes for police.
According to the report tabled in parliament this week, there were many irregularities in the shoe deal right from the word go.
Records at the ministry show that there was an approval to buy 26,500 pairs of shoes and but the supplier was paid Sh267 Million for 78,000 pairs.
[caption caption="Auditor General Edward Ouko"]
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This means 51,000 extra pairs were bought but police on the ground revealed that they had to go into their pockets to buy shoes while some were still using their old pairs.
“A physical check of the condition of shoes being used by the police across the country revealed a pathetic and unpleasant situation as some officers use worn-out shoes while others have opted to buy shoes from various vendors, contrary to dress regulations for police officers,” stated Auditor-General Edward Ouko.
Officials at the ministry stated they purchased extra shoes due to the addition of 10,000 police trainees although auditors found only 4,000 trainees were at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo and 2,000 at the General Service Unit.
Shoes for the additional 4,000 trainees at the Administration Police Training College were paid for separately.
According to the Nation, when auditors checked the situation on the ground, using 12 police divisions as a sample, records showed that they ordered 454 pairs of shoes and got 63 pairs while the records in Nairobi showed that 392 pairs were issued.
The Auditor-General concluded that the records in Nairobi were falsified.
The report will be scrutinised by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and the accounting officer expected to respond to the queries relating to the 2015/2016 financial year.
[caption caption="File Photo of Police Marching"]
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