Auditor-General Edward Ouko has exposed how a group of Kisumu Members of County Assembly (MCAs) earned millions in fake meetings.
A report by Business Daily Africa indicates indicates that Ouko was baffled on how the MCAs managed to be in ‘two places at the same time.’
"Although the attendance register showed that the members attended both meetings, it is not clear how a member can attend two meetings concurrently," Ouko wrote in the report covering the year to June 2018.
Earning double sitting allowances in forged attendance of concurrent meetings is just one of the many ways taxpayer money is squandered in the devolved units by the county politicians.
For instance, the Kisumu MCAs earned Ksh7.07 million in sitting allowance in committee meetings whose minutes could not be traced.
The MCAs further earned a tidy sum of Ksh87.1 million in allowances for the year leading to June 2018.
To put the matter into perspective, the MCAs took home a cool Ksh531,400 without any approval as personal allowances while vetting the Audit committee.
Similarly, in July 2017, the MCAs claimed Ksh1.4 million in per diems although this was not supported with any attendance register.
This was barely a month to the General Elections hence the MCAs were likely too busy campaigning.
However, the lawmakers still insisted on being paid allowances for attending meetings that never existed.
Although the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) had moved to slash MCAs' huge allowances in trips and meetings through a Gazette Notice issued, High Court Judge George Odunga restored their perks.
Justice Odunga effectively quashed the SRC notice in December 2018 after Kakamega MCAs went to court to contest the cut on allowances.
