The groups led by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) further claims that the situation has been worsened by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, which they accuse of sanitising senior public officials accused of graft instead/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 1-Pressure piling on the Government to act on the multi-billion shillings scandal in the health sector, with the latest calls coming from a section of Civil Society groups.
The groups led by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) further claims that the situation has been worsened by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, which they accuse of sanitising senior public officials accused of graft instead.
KHRC’s Deputy Executive Director Davis Malombe says as part of their efforts to push for the resignation, arrest and prosecution of those accused of stealing public funds, they will on Thursday hold a major protest, where they shall also hand over a petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has failed to effectively and independently deliver on its key mandate; law enforcement, investigation and corruption prevention in the discharge of its functions,” he said.
“This has rendered the institution a friendly environment for the corrupt. In fact on many occasions the EACC has sanitized the corrupt.”
He said most of the graft cases have failed to be successfully prosecuted due to sham investigations by the institutions within the criminal justice systems.
“The Government has failed to demonstrate greater transparency in procurement processes by not publicising information on tender analysis, detailed contractor profiles including list of directors, engagement contracts, project implementation plans, bills of quantities and other related information,” Malombe lamented.
Activist Boniface Mwangi says the petition will contain a demand list on practical actions that the President should implement in line with his legal and political mandate and obligations.
In the case of the alleged Sh5 billion Ministry of Health scandal, the Government has since said that the audit figures on the alleged misappropriation are grossly exaggerated.
In its final audit report, the Ministry points out that the wrong methodology was used and that no queries correlates to the monies allegedly lost.
“The overview of our reply to the Audit Queries is that there was gross exaggeration of the figures involved; as well as application of inappropriate methodology. There is no figure of Sh5 billion that correlates with the audit queries raised by the Internal Auditor,” a statement from the Ministry had stated.
According to the report, the total amount of resources that are subject of the Interim Audit Report is Sh3 billion which was spent in accordance with the law and for the intended purposes.
“We also note with concern that the Interim Financial Audit Report was not put through the standard internal processes that any interim audit report must go through. The same was made public even before the specific audit queries had been discussed and responses and reconciliations provided,” it stated.
It pointed out that the figure of Sh5 billion is not accurate and indicated that it is misleading.
“As the enclosed Comprehensive Response and Reconciliation shows; the Ministry has provided complete responses and reconciliations of every financial Audit Query raised by the Internal Auditor. We are confident that the findings of the Office of the Auditor General will put this matter to a rest.”
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