Members of the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday, March 16, exposed a loose end which government officials reportedly used to squander public resources in their respective ministries.
The MPs, led by PAC Chairperson, John Mbadi, raised concern over cases where government officers were paid allowances worth millions of shillings while performing their normal duties.
They were grilling former Principal Secretary to the State Department for Petroleum, Andrew Kamau, over audit queries raised in the Auditor General's report.
The report, according to the PAC Committee established that his department had paid over Ksh42 million to staff for working beyond working hours.
However, the MPs expressed their reservations about the payments arguing that the staff members received extra payment for the work assigned in their contracts.
"It is illegal to pay government officers allowances for doing their work," he stated.
The Committee has established that the allowances paid to the staff have not been approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC)."
In addition, the committee raised concerns over the lack of documentation to prove some of the payments completed by the Ministry, especially those related to fuel allowances for motor vehicles used by the staff.
The Department was also accused of paying more than Ksh5 million to a local oil company for the supply of bulk fuel without producing proof of receipt of the fuel.
"The Department never gave documentary evidence to indicate how the fuel was drawn by their motor vehicles," he added.
According to the committee, the trend of paying staff for extra hours was widespread in various government departments hence acting as a major loophole for the wastage of public resources.
In his defence, the former PS noted that "the allowances were paid as a refund for money used by the officers to perform government duties."
