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Auditor General to release graft reports for all counties in fortnight

Speaking during a media breakfast with editors on Tuesday, Auditor General Edward Ouko stated that the reports will focus on how the two levels of county governments have used their revenue allocations/CFM NEWS

Speaking during a media breakfast with editors on Tuesday, Auditor General Edward Ouko stated that the reports will focus on how the two levels of county governments have used their revenue allocations/CFM NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – The Auditor General’s office will in two weeks time release 47 audit reports for all County Executives and County Assemblies.

Speaking during a media breakfast with editors on Tuesday, Auditor General Edward Ouko stated that the reports will focus on how the two levels of county governments have used their revenue allocations.

He pointed out that they will further reveal how development expenditure have been used and address any loopholes that may have led to any loss of money.

“In these particular reports, we want to tell you how the county assemblies have used the resources which were allocated to them. We want to tell you how the county responded, used and recorded the recurrent development resources which they were given,” he said.

The Auditor General further stated that the reports are currently at an advanced stage with about eighty percent of them having being completed.

“The county reports are at an advanced stage, we have already finished a number of them but we do not want to release them on piece meal, we want to release them all together. Much has been done, almost 80 percent, there is 20 percent to complete and you can understand since we are dealing with places like North Eastern,” he said.

Editors’ Guild Chairman Linus Kaikai at the same time called for the implementation of the many reports from the Auditor General’s office to improve accountability.

“We are increasingly a society that is very low ion accountability and when a society is low ion accountability, it reduces your office to more of a ceremonial sort of place where you do your reports and there will be no consequences,” he said.

“Are the recommendations of the office of the Auditor General implemented. Is action taken to ensure that does not repeat itself. One thing that I find consistent is the nature of the financial misdeeds in this country. A scandal gives birth to another. Mismanagement of public funds is very similar in nature.”

He cited previous reports which unearthed massive amounts of graft in government but no action taken.

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“There was Goldenberg and it gave birth to Anglo Leasing and execution is exactly the same. What does that tell us? It tells us that the society is being eaten by the fact that there are no consequences for some of these actions. I am waiting for what Anglo Leasing will give birth to. There is Eurobond which is a very gray area,” he stated. “As long as we have no consequences for what is happening, then the Auditor General’s office must be prepared to do the same reports decade after decade. The nature of our misdeeds do not change.”

He further pointed out that with the advent of devolution, the matter has become worse since misappropriation of funds is taking place at every level.

“I would say with a lot of disappointment that with devolution, we have witnessed a lot more of the cascading of these misdeeds to the lower levels down to the MCAs. What used to be a crime that can be committed in a Ministry, now happens in a local office down in the country side and as long as we have no consequences of these things, let us prepare to continue reading these beautiful reports,” he said.

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