Journalists were on Wednesday thrown out of City Hall as the County Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) conducted a meeting with clerk Jacob Ngwele.
The committee had summoned Mr Ngwele over the irregular transfer of Ksh45 Million that was meant as car loans for the Members of County Assembly (MCAs).
The probe coincided with a raid by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives who sought documents in relation to the matter.
Nairobi county PAC Chairman Wilfred Odalo instructed members of the press as well as committee clerks to step out of the meeting as soon as the county clerk arrived for questioning.
[caption caption="File image of Nairobi County Assembly Clerk Jacob Ngwele"]
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"I would like to ask members of the Fourth Estate to leave but I will call you back later," he promised.
Reporters who camped at City Hall through the proceedings revealed that Mr Odalo later told them that the meeting had been adjourned to Wednesday, June 20, 2018.
A special report by Auditor General Edward Ouko established that the Ksh45 Million fund had been suspiciously distributed to five different accounts for unexplained purposes.
"A review of the funds' cashbook revealed that the money was irregularly transferred in 2016-2017 from the fund account to various accounts without the approval of the county executive member for finance.
"Consequently, the county assembly was in breach of the law," Mr Ouko explained in the report.
In response, Mr Ngwele outlined that the fund started operations in June 2014 with an initial balance of Ksh254 Million and an additional Ksh40 Million was injected in the period in question.
He added that 130 beneficiaries had already borrowed a total of Ksh260 Million and repaid a total of Ksh253 Million, therefore, the outstanding balance was Ksh7 Million.
[caption caption="File image of Nairobi County Assembly in session"]
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