A Senate watchdog committee is mulling summoning former Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia to explain expenditures of close to Sh50 million during his tenure.
The development comes after Kimemia’s successor, Governor Kiarie Badilisha, told the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds committee he could not explain the spending due to lack of documentation.
“I'm unable to answer any questions in the absence of this surrender of documents; alternatively, and in the public interest, this Senate should summon the former governor,” he said.
The governor spoke when he appeared before the panel chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi last Thursday to explain audit queries on funds of the county government.
They include the bursary fund, emergency fund and car loan and mortgage fund.
During the meeting at Parliament Buildings, the team established from audit reports that the former administration disbursed bursaries amounting to Sh57.53 million in 2019-20.
Of the expenditure, Sh5.24 million was disbursed to 329 students whose admission numbers were not indicated to confirm they received the bursaries.
The audit also flagged Sh40 million reportedly spent on emergencies.
Badilisha said he could not defend the expenditures for lack of documents.
“The audit query is true. The reported expenditure of Sh5.24 million could not be verified. We have written to all beneficiary schools but no verification has reached our office,” he said.
“We have no evidence to show the funds reached the schools. That is why we are asking the Senate to do what it can to get information from the people concerned.”
Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda, a member of the committee, pushed the governor to prove his administration has written to the schools to authenticate the expenditures.
“Where is the evidence you have sent the letters to the schools to get information regarding the 329 students?" she posed.
The governor produced several letters to prove his case.
On the scrutiny of the letters, however, it emerged the letters left the office of the county director of education on April 30 for distribution to the schools.
“It’s possible that these letters were not written to the school for this meeting. If anything, the audit report has been on your desk for quite some time,” Nyandarua Senator John Methu said.
But the governor said there was no reason for the students to lack admission numbers as they were admitted to schools in January while the audit was conducted 10 months later in October.
“This Senate has powers of the High Court to summon my predecessor to answer these questions or compel him to surrender government documents illegally taken away from the county government of Nyandarua," Badilisha said.
"These are the only viable options if I am able to adequately respond to these issues.”
Osotsi gave the governor 30 days to seek responses from the schools to confirm whether the county channelled the funds to them, failing which the committee would invoke article 125 of the Constitution and summon ex-governor Kimemia to explain the expenditure.
“We are going to mark this query as a query of concern until we get a response from the county government in 30 days," he said.
Article 125 of the Constitution gives either House of Parliament and any of its committees the power to summon any person to appear before it to give evidence or provide information.
It also emerged that the county was operating two bursary bank accounts, something the auditor flagged as unnecessary as it cost the county expenses on bank charges.
“It is true what the auditors have served. Drafters of our Act looked at the students where we have students with dire needs than others,” he said.
So, they created ward bursaries which account for 90 percent of the total bursary allocation and 10 per cent goes to the governor’s bursary which takes care of special needs like orphans,” the governor said. That is why we decided to have different accounts,” the governor said.
He added, “These are the things I found and I am trying to realign,” he told the committee, adding the he will move for the amendment of the county bursary act.
It also emerged the management of the bursary funds was not maintaining either the electronic or manual records of the expenditures.