Senators warn governors over failure to implement county fund mismanagement resolutions
Speaker Kingi said several committee reports with actionable recommendations have gone unheeded for years, leaving financial irregularities unchecked.
Senators have raised concerns over governors’ reluctance to implement resolutions aimed at curbing mismanagement of county funds, warning that repeated delays in acting on recommendations are stalling progress and accountability in counties.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said several committee reports with actionable recommendations have gone unheeded for years, leaving financial irregularities unchecked.
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Speaking during the launch of the week-long Senate Mashinani sessions in Busia County, Kingi downplayed claims of bad blood between Senators and governors over oversight of county funds, emphasising that the Senate’s role is purely to ensure accountability in the use of public resources.
“It is a matter of great concern that you find the Senate has given several key recommendations to county administrations, but two or three years down the line, nothing happens, which raises a lot of questions,” Kingi said.
He noted that Senate watchdog committees, including the County Public Accounts Committee and the County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee, have repeatedly recommended disciplinary action against officers implicated in financial irregularities.
The committees’ reports often cite errors, omissions, or incompetence that lead to breaches of the law and potential loss of public funds, proposing disciplinary measures, surcharges and investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
“For instance, in a 2021 report, the Senate Public Accounts Committee recommended action against accounting officers in several counties accused of gross financial mismanagement, with very little done so far,” Kingi said.
He noted that the report exposed poor record-keeping, weak budgeting controls and failure by some officers to submit financial statements for audit, ostensibly to conceal irregularities, while documenting illegalities, including flawed procurement, inflated payments, payment for stalled or incomplete multi-million-shilling projects and accumulation of pending bills.
The committee also observed breaches of procurement laws and procedures that may have resulted in loss of public funds. Audits revealed that many counties had failed to recover imprests running into millions of shillings, lacked proper assets and liabilities registers and opened multiple commercial bank accounts in violation of the law.
Kingi emphasised that Senate resolutions are based on thorough inquiries, often involving direct questioning of governors and their officers over audit queries. He urged governors to act promptly on these recommendations.
“When I served as governor, I used to act promptly on Senate recommendations. What I used to do was to sack officers implicated before I went to the Senate. When I appeared before the committee, I told them I had already acted on their recommendation,” Kingi said.
He warned against tolerating mediocrity and incompetence, saying such complacency undermines devolution and refuted claims that senators and governors are adversaries.
The Speaker also raised concern over infighting between county executives and assemblies, warning that disputes derail development.
“We have seen conflict between assemblies and executives. I am happy we have not seen that in Busia. It will not be good if the executive is pulling one way and the assembly another since this affects development in counties,” he said.
Busia County Executive, led by Governor Paul Otuoma, cited delays in fund disbursement, disputes over functions, frequent industrial actions and outdated pre-devolution laws as ongoing challenges.
“We still face a lot of challenges even in terms of functions and resources. Following functions, there is still a lot of push and pull between the national and county governments, which is affecting devolution,” Otuoma said.
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