MCAs spent Sh1 million on uninvited London Marathon, says Auditor General

Eight officials from Nairobi City County blew over one million shillings attending the 2014 London Marathon without invitation.

The seven MCAs and an assembly officer spent four days in London from April 11, 2014 attending a sports event to which they were not invited, on a trip that had not been approved by the Speaker or the clerk of the assembly. Auditor General Edward Ouko has questioned the expenditure saying:

“There was no invitation letter for the MCAs and the officer. The validity of the expenditure totaling Sh1, 077, 060 on the London trip could not be confirmed.”

The trip is among several domestic and foreign travels that have unsupported air tickets and explanations. Last year, eight European and African countries reportedly banned Kenya’s MCAs from touring their countries. The counties include Israel, South Africa, Brazil, USA, Rwanda, Malaysia, Netherlands and Singapore.

In the 2013/14 financial year, the assembly sunk Sh110 million in local and foreign travels, but during the 2014/15 financial year, the travels expenditure shot up by 187 per cent to Sh205.52 million according to the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo.

Ouko says that of the Sh35 million payment vouchers provided, the MCAs and assembly officers’ air tickets were not attached as proof of travel, nor duly stamped passports at the points of entry and exit.

“It was therefore not possible to confirm the propriety of the expenditure as a proper charge to public funds,” says Ouko.

Also, transport allowances amounting to Sh1.3 million advanced to MCAs attending various meetings were not surrendered and no action has been taken to recover the money.

The MCAs and House officers have spent money on site visits without properly detailing what the site visits entailed, number of members who made the said visits and whether the visits actually took place.