Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto quizzed by Senate team on audit gaps

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto (left) answers queries when he appeared before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee yesterday. He was asked to respond to respond to various audit questions raised against his administration. (PHOTO: MOSES OMUSULA/ STANDARD)

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto yesterday appeared before a Senate watchdog committee to respond to respond to various audit questions raised against his administration.

The governor, who was making his second appearance before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee, was put to task as to why over Sh30 million collected during the 2013-2014 was not recorded in the cash book.

Auditor General Edward Ouko, in his report, had noted that Sh30,414,779 collected during the period under review and banked directly to county bank accounts, was not recorded in the cash book or captured in ledger records.

According to the Auditor General, this raised a possibility of a loss and embezzlement of unrecorded revenue collections in the county.

Spirited defence 

But the governor put up a spirited defence of his administration before the committee led by Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o, absolving himself from blame.

“The amount received that had not been recorded in the cash books due to time constraints has so far been reconciled. The original bank statements have been sent to the auditors,” said Ruto, who added that no amount of money remains unaccounted for in their accounts.

In the audit report, it was established that the bank reconciliation statements for various banks for period under review were not prepared on time, posing a risk of likely loss of cash without knowledge of county executive.

The former Council of Governors (CoG) chairman explained that his administration had updated and prepared the financial documents for all the accounts maintained by his government.

Ruto gave an almost similar answer when the senators put him on the spot for not maintaining an inward cheque register for the same period, thereby making it difficult to track transactions which could lead to misappropriation of funds.

“It is true that during the time of audit, the inwards cheque register was not upto date. It only recorded the cheques received and respective amount, but other details were omitted, but we have since updated it.”

The governor’s response to the question puzzled Senator Kennedy Mong’are (Nyamira , who sought an explanation from his colleagues in the committee and the Bomet county boss.

“If at some stage, laws are violated and later the same laws are complied with, what happens? Is the work of this committee to hear mitigation from governors?” he posed.

“During the first full year under devolution, we had serious capacity challenges and even were forced to request the National Treasury to assign us accountants. They gave us 10 accountants who assisted us beef up our capacities,” said the county boss.

Kimani Wamatangi (Kiambu) reminded the governor and his officers that non-compliance to the law has stiff penalties, pointing out the recent predicament of three Nyeri county employees who were jailed.

“The governor can mitigate, but it is a serious issue, and should not be treated casually. Failure to comply to the law occurred, the Governor has admitted, but it should not prevail,” warned Wamatangi.

Prof Nyong’o buttressed the point, noting that the Public Audit Act, 2015, stipulates tough punishment for county officers who breach the procurement and finance law.

The governor was at the same point hard-pressed to justify Sh0.9 billion for development, an amount that the Auditor General claims was inadequate.

The report showed that Ruto’s administration spent Sh927 million on development expenditure representing 26 percent of the total expenditure of Sh3.5 billion, short of the 30 per cent threshold recommended by the Constitution.

But Ruto pointed out that his administration conducted financial reconciliation and found out that the development expenditure stood at Sh1 billion.

“Our development expenditure stood at Sh1 billion which represents 48.4 per cent of the total expenditure and thus, surpassed the 30 per cent development minimum threshold,” said Ruto.