Governors tell Auditor General to probe use of CDF

FROM LEFT: Governors Salim Mvurya (Kwale), Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed during the launch of the County Devolution Dialogues to strengthen micro and small enterprises in a bid to create jobs. [PHOTO: MOSES OMUSULA/STANDARD]

Governors want the Auditor General to report how MPs have spent the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in the last one year, alleging deliberate adverse audits on counties.

The county chiefs questioned the motive of only auditing the accounts of county governments yet they have been in charge of direct funding from the Treasury for barely a year.

They explained while they were sworn in office in March last year, they only received the first tranche of allocations on September 2013.

Before then, they explained, counties were running on transitional funds transferred from former civic authorities, adding it was unfair to use adverse audits from the period to portray them in bad light.

Council of Governors (CoG) Vice-Chairman Salim Mvurya said the war initiated by the Senate in demanding accountability was a ploy to undermine them.

"If accountability is the issue, we want the Auditor General to make a report of how the MPs have utilised money for CDF, because those are also public funds," said Mvurya.

Addressing the Press yesterday shortly after launching the first National Jua Kali Devolution Conference dialogue, governors maintained they will not appear before the Senate Finance Committee for questioning over the use of funds.

CoG Finance Committee Chairman Ahmed Abdullahi accused the Senate of failing to understand that governors were in charge of county governments.

Abdullahi claimed frequent summoning of county bosses by the Senate was a well-orchestrated move to scuttle devolution and water down the gains made in the last few months since they took over.

"We feel these summons are being initiated by our political rivals. We have not refused to be accountable but it must be done within the Constitution.

"There are county governments with structures and county assemblies who oversight," said the Wajir governor.

He further said the Senate had blatantly disregarded a court ruling in Kerugoya that interpreted various articles of the supreme law with regard to its role versus that of county assemblies, in terms of oversight of financial resources allocated to counties.

The court held that the Senate had the mandate of overseeing the effective utilisation of finances allocated to devolved units.

The court said the Senate was mandated pursuant to Article 96 (3) of the Constitution to examine and consider budget implementation reports in so far as they are related to utilisation of revenue allocated to respective counties.

The governor further noted the Senate had no mandate to scrutinise the expenditure of any county administration, saying the responsibility was given to other bodies like the Auditor General, Controller of Budget and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

He said there were functions devolved to counties and the Constitution states resources should follow responsibilities.

"Denying some county governments cash is unconstitutional. As long as the Senate wants to operate unconstitutionally, we shall continue going to courts to ask them to protect devolution," he said.

He said all government institutions use digital finance management systems and questioned why senators insisted on the appearance of governors yet other officials are sent to clarify the issues.

Governors said the financial year started in July last year but they only received cash for the transition period in September and questioned why county accounts were frequently probed and not those of other institutions.

"We feel that summoning the governors is just aimed at covering something bigger. There are so many institutions spending public funds.

"The Senate should not think the national government is not using the same money. These are taxpayers' funds," said Garissa Governor Nadhif Jamah.

Already, Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Chariman Charles Nyachae has indicated that a motion passed by senators to freeze funding to Bomet, Kisumu, Muranga and Kiambu counties because their governors failed to respond to summons does not have a basis in law.