Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission(EACC) detectives and Auditor General Edward Ouko will have a tough time verifying the expenditure of Migori county after details emerged that a fire that razed down the county procurement offices in September 2017 burnt receipts of goods worth over Ksh1.5 billion.
Ouko tracked the expenditure of Ksh1.56 billion, through the government online payment platform for the months July through September 2017, but cannot verify this as there were no documents to back this up.
“The expenditure could not be vouched for due to lack of relevant documents and financial records which allegedly got burnt during the fire outbreak leading to limitation of scope,” the Auditor General explained.
According to Business Daily, the county claimed that at the time of the fire incident, the procurement store contained tender documents, work tickets, payment vouchers, payment cashbooks, and bank statements.
Ouko also reported that it will be virtually impossible for him to make any conclusive verdict on the expenditures of Migori county up to the year ending June 2018.
This information comes at a time when EACC officials are investigating Migori Governor Okoth Obado for the loss of Ksh2 billion which is claimed to have been wired to accounts belonging to family members.
EACC named 23 companies that the Migori Governor is claimed to have used to win tenders between 2013 and 2017, receiving a total of Ksh1,971,179,180.
In November 2018, EACC detectives raided Obado’s home in search of crucial documents and computers that would make their case against the Governor watertight days after filing the affidavit in court.
Obado was recently accused of constructing a road to the private residence of Supreme Court Judge Justice Jackton Ojwang’ after receiving a favorable judgment on another case.
