MPs pass buck to State agencies over loss of Sh3.8b CDF money

National Assembly Committee on CDF Chairman Moses Lessonet said CDF managers should not be held to account for money spent at another government agency. (Photo: File/Standard)

Members of Parliament summoned Auditor General Edward Ouko this week over media reports of alleged misappropriation of Sh3.85 billion from the Constituency Development Fund.

The MPs wanted to know whether his report on the 2013/14 financial year explicitly linked them to the mismanagement of funds as reported in The Standard on Sunday two weeks ago.

Mr Ouko, who sent three deputies, David Gichana, Sylvester Kiini and Alex Rugena, said his office does not respond to media reports of expenditure.

“We report to this House and that is why when you called us we had to come. We cannot keep responding to what the media puts out there. As you have seen there have been so many stories on counties, national government and governors in the past few weeks, it would be too much and outside our mandate,” Mr Rugena said.

The auditors said although they could not provide the total amount of money lost from the kitty over the years, their findings on case-by-case basis were accurate.

No assets register

They said some constituencies had no registration of assets, had accumulated pending bills, some of the bills settled had no supporting documents and there were outstanding imprests.

“Errors in financial statements attract an adverse report because there is material disagreement. We also saw wasteful expenditure that did not give value for money, leaning towards political influence rather than value to the taxpayer,” Mr Gichana told the MPs.

The legislators blamed the discrepancies on the Auditor General’s office, saying the process of assessing expenditure was flawed. Of particular interest was the accounting process for money disbursed to other institutions such as schools and hospitals.

National Assembly Committee on CDF Chairman Moses Lessonet (Eldama Ravine) said CDF managers should not be held to account for money spent at another government agency. “When you make a donation to another government agency, this is a transfer. Is it the person who gives the money to account or the last government agency, say the school or police or the dispensary, that actually spends the money?” Mr Lessonet asked.

The auditors said only in cases where the CDF committee was undertaking the project would the auditor query procurement processes and value for money.

Lessonet questioned why CDF committees should keep an asset register when some of the properties or projects such as dormitories and hospital wards were handed over to the institutions on completion.

Mr Gichana said, “Some CDF committees had bought land and this must be included in their financial statements. Offices, vehicles and computers are all assets and have to be in an asset register. We do not ask for assets where they are set up in another agency.”

Eldama Ravine’s CDF committee was stuck with Sh3 million in “unpresented cheques”; Sh13.7 million in bursary disbursements that “could not be confirmed” and failure to submit expenditure records for projects amounting to Sh15 million.

Mr Lessonet said his fund manager had addressed all queries raised by the auditors and wondered why this was not reflected in the report.

The legislators also sought to distance themselves from the spending mess highlighted by the auditors and instead blamed the CDF managers. They said the managers were responsible for direct spending and MPs’ role was limited to oversight.