Nairobi governor, Johnson Sakaja, on Monday, June 12, was tasked with revealing the list of private exhauster companies contracted from 2018 to 2021.
In a statement from Parliament, Sakaja was given two weeks to forward the list to the Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds, which the Auditor General would verify in collaboration with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The Committee, led by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, discussed several audit queries raised by the Auditor General, such as unreconciled water sales, unidentified water losses and under-collection of trucked water supply revenue.
Other issues cited were the unverified value of water supplies to informal settlements during the pandemic, an exercise led by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
To ensure efficiency and address these concerns, the committee instructed the governor's administration to devise and submit a comprehensive plan detailing measures to combat non-revenue water in the county.
According to Osotsi, the plan should outline strategies to deal with commercial and fiscal losses. The Auditor General's Office would report on their effectiveness in subsequent audit cycles.
To resolve the issue of the unconfirmed value of water supplies to informal settlements, the committee tasked the Nairobi County Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) management with providing certified work tickets for verification.
In response to the absence of documentation supporting the grants from the NMS during the audit, the committee requested Sakaja to submit the necessary documents to the Auditor General's Office for auditing within two weeks.
"Regarding unsupported staff costs, the county government has been directed to submit minutes from the board meeting that resolved the issue of bonus payouts to staff within a week," the Committee stated.
Sakaja was also directed to provide the county's bank statements and management reconciliations for 2015 - 2023, which the Auditor General's Office would verify.
The governor lauded the oversight function provided by Parliament to enable adherence and monitoring of county functions.
"Parliamentary Oversight and Accountability remains a hallmark of our Constitutional Architecture," he stated.
