County Audit Unearths 11 Phones Bought For Ksh1.69 Million

Former Kiambu Governor James Nyoro appearing before Senate Committee on Monday, August 10, 2020.
Former Kiambu Governor James Nyoro appearing before Senate Committee on Monday, August 10, 2020.
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An audit conducted by the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has revealed that the County Government of Kiambu acquired 11 mobile phones at a combined cost of Ksh1.69 million.

According to the audit report which was titled 'Management Letter', the Governor James Nyoro led county made the irregular purchases in the 2019/2020 fiscal year. The phones cost between Ksh84,000 and Ksh198,000 each.

The mobile phones purchased by the county were; 2 iPhone XS (Max) at a cost of Ksh198,440 each, an iPhone X at a cost of Ksh198,000, and an Ipad at a cost of Sh170, 689, 2 Samsung S10s at a cost of Ksh146,160 each, a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and an Ipad Pro at a cost of Ksh145,000 each, and a Samsung Galaxy S4 at a cost of Ksh84,100.

File image of a man on his phone
File image of a man on his phone
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“The list of whom the mobile phones were issued to was not provided for audit. The store records; S3, S11, S12, and S13 for the phones were not provided for audit. Therefore, it could not be confirmed whether the mobile phones were recorded/entered in the stores,” the report reads in part.

According to the auditor general, all the phones surpassed the Ksh80,000 cap adviced by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The letter was presented to the County Executive Committee Member for Finance Mburu Kangethe with the inscription, “the purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention the findings that were revealed during the audit.”

The audit report also revealed several other suspicious financial activities in the county for the financial year 2019/2020. According to Gathungu, the county also spent Ksh19.5 million on airtime.

The auditor general flagged allowances paid to the county Ward Representatives and county staff, and stipends for attendees during public functions where over Ksh100 million is believed to have been lost.

For instance, MCAs and staff from the county are reported to have been Ksh62 million to finance workshops and retreats in Mombasa and Naivasha. This is said to have been inclusive of Ksh10 million paid as allowances to MCAs who attended a health workshop in Mombasa between January 5 and 11, 2020.

This is at a time Nyoro was the county's acting governor.

The report also revealed that Ksh11 million was paid to the county leaders while at a workshop in Mombasa in October 2019, Ksh9 million for a budgetary meeting, Ksh3 for a seminar they attended in Naivasha.

“The MCA’s might have been paid allowances for meetings that were not existent…allowances paid were unbudgeted for and unjustified…double payment of allowances may happen as the MCA’s might also have been paid from the county assembly budget,” the report reads in part.

The auditor general's report which is dated December 30, 2020, was supposed to be kept internally by the county. K24 reported that disgruntled MCAs against Governor Nyoro's leadership leaked the report on January 19.

Following her appointment in June 2020, Gathungu has evaluated financial records of counties and state departments, unearthing numerous accounts of irregularities in the process.

Kiambu Governor James Nyoro
Kiambu Governor James Nyoro speaking in Limuru Municipality on July 22, 2020.
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