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Muturi vows to act on Parliament graft report

The damning report also revealed that some former MPs are still on the payroll/FILE

The damning report also revealed that some former MPs are still on the payroll/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 5 – National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has pledged to ensure the EACC report exposing corruption loopholes at the Parliamentary Service Commission is fully implemented.

The report focuses on financial management systems, policies and procedures while identifying weaknesses which could have led to massive losses of millions of tax payers’ funds.

The damning report also revealed that some former MPs are still on the payroll, with investigations launched to establish if they were receiving monthly salaries.

READ: Former MPs still on Parliament payroll – EACC

The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission Chief Executive Officer Halakhe Waqo has also noted that the procurement unit does not have an internal manual to guide staff, which may lead to major irregularities.

Among the key issues highlighted in the report include some instances where consideration for loans is based on the total net pay reflected in the payslip which includes sitting allowances, yet it’s against the law.

The report also reveals that most financial records are stored in a dusty registry and files are not maintained in order, cautioning that it is a weakness that may lead to concealment of irregularities perpetrated in financial management process.

“In most cases, loose documents are moved from one office to the other for processing without recording in a register for ease of tracking,” the report reads.

During the examination by the anti-graft body, a review of the minutes of the Tender Committee meeting held on 6th December 2014 indicated that the committee awarded contracts for direct procurement’s of a motorised wheelchair Sh2.8 million and uniform of Clerks and Sergeant-At-Arms at Sh1.5 million.

They also noted instances where there were irregularities in the award of tenders.

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“For instance, in the contract for the installation of pigeon holes of Members of Parliament, the tender committee relied on recommendations by the Tender Processing Committee (TPC) ,” it reads.

This contravenes Regulation 5 of the Legal Notice No 106 of 2014 which requires a procuring entity to establish TPC in relation assigned to each tender and submit the report to the Tender Committee to guide in the award of the contract, and a loophole for bias in the award of contracts.

At the time of examination, PSC had also not activated the Integrated Financial Management Information System had not been activated and, “the internal could not access the system to audit transactions on the system.”

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