The Auditor General Report has flagged Kisii County for suspected imprudent expenditure of funds channeled from the exchequer.
It further fingers suspicious payments to unauthorized staff among them a senior officer employed irregularly.
In most incidents, Governor Simba Arati was at pains explaining the expenditure of funds allocated to him in 2023-2024 fiscal year.
He breached the law by also supplying to auditors doctored records on spending.
For instance a staggering Sh14 million could not be accounted for after the administration reported using Sh96 million on domestic travel and tea.
The Auditor however reported variation in the data captured in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) with the officers saying they had expended Sh82.7 million.
As a result Sh14 million could not be accounted for.
The report narrates how the County officers sold a lie of receiving at a total of Sh96 million in reimbursements when in fact they were paid before setting out for field assignment.
The officers had reported that they were paid as reimbursements for using own cash in carrying out official assignments.
An analysis of the Ifmis system, indicated that money was actually paid out to them before going out for work related activities pointing to suspicion of graft.
The report has also raised concerns on the county attorney, who continues to earn a salary despite his appointment getting quashed in court early this year.
According to the Auditor General, a private citizen moved to the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Kisumu to challenge the appointment of the county attorney, which was done on December 1, 2022.
On January 24, 2024, the officer’s appointment was quashed by the court.
But an analysis of the financial statements as per September 2024, found out that the officer was still drawing salary from his account.
It was established that between January 2024 and August 2024, the officer had taken home a hefty pay of Sh3,384,632.
Another anomaly was discovered in the Department of Trade Development and Regulations where an excess of Sh698,000 was paid to a contractor for the printing and the supply of assorted materials.
The contractor had been given a contract sum of Sh2,298,500 but he ended up receiving Sh2,997,000 with no explanation being given for the excess payment.
Audit queries have also been raised on the running of the banana processing plant at Kisii Agricultural and Training Centre (KATC).
The auditors noted that there was great secrecy in the manner in which the investor who is currently running the plant was brought on board even if the leasing of the factory was advertised through an open international tender.
The plant’s construction was co-funded by the County Government of Kisii and the European Union with an ambitious vision of helping banana farmers reap maximum benefits from the cultivation of the crop that is grown in plenty in the region through value addition.
Upon its completion, the plant according to the auditor general was handed over to an irregularly appointed investor who was supposed to pay a rental income of Sh150,000 per month.
However, it was established that the amount had been un-procedurally slashed to Sh90,000 after the grace period of six months given to the investor elapsed.
Interestingly, after that reduction, auditors established that the investor who was given the responsibility of running the factory had not paid any rent to date and the 30-year lease given to the investor also remains a mystery on how it was arrived at.
The Department of Education has also been put on the spotlight in terms of how it distributed bursaries to needy students.
An analysis of the records from the sampled beneficiaries list revealed that 54 students were evaluated and given bursaries of Sh289,000.
However, these beneficiaries did not have school admission numbers.
There was also a double allocation of bursaries amounting to Sh225,100 to 37 students who had identical student and parent details but were listed as coming from different wards.
In addition, the auditors also noted that there was another double allocation of bursaries of Sh344,000 to 46 students who had identical student and parents’ details but were listed as coming from different schools.
It was also established that some 18 students were awarded double bursaries amounting to Sh416,000.
Each bursary ranged between Sh10,000 to Sh20,000 but no justifiable reasons were given for the double allocations.
The department is also said to have allocated Sh20,000,000 to 1,854 students whom were classified as special needy cases but no evidence was provide that this money was actually given out.
Auditors also raised concerns whether the value of money was achieved in several projects that are currently being undertaken by the devolved unit.
Top of the projects whose implementation has been flagged as irregular, is the ongoing construction of the new county headquarters that is taking place next to Kisii school.
The project, which is being done by a private company will gobble Sh500,000,000.
But auditors have queried why the contractor was paid an advance payment of Sh99,999,113 yet he had been deemed to be financially sound and there were no any exceptional circumstances that guaranteed this payment.
This was done in total disregard of section 146 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2025, which provides that contracts for works, goods or services may only be paid for after they are executed and approved by the accounting officer.
The Auditor General asked why the county government had to use another Sh24,921, 817 to renovate the old municipal building which hosts the current county executive offices yet it had other ambitions of building new county headquarters, a few metres from Kisii town.
A similar scenario has been raised in the ongoing construction of the county industrial and aggregation park in Bomachoge Borabu Constituency.
This park, whose construction fee is being co-shared with the national government was allocated Sh477,941,470 by the devolved unit.
The company, which was given the tender is said to have been given an advance payment of Sh95,588, 294 yet it had been deemed as financially stable.
“No evidence of exceptional circumstances that warranted the advance payment of the company deemed financially sound was provided,” the draft report said.
The Auditor General now wants the county government of Kisii to respond to these findings before it makes its final comment on the matter.
In a letter addressed to the county’s finance executive Kennedy Abincha, dated December 9, 2024, the Auditor General asked the county executive to submit its written responses within three days from the issue date, failure to which, the findings in the draft report would be taken as they were for further processing.
“Kindly submit your written responses to this draft Audit Report within three days from the date of this letter for further examination. If no comments are received by 11 December 2024, it will be assumed that you agree with the facts as stated and the report will be processed as it is for issue,” part of the letter signed by Dr Simon Nabosu on behalf of Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said.