Kitui Governor Julius Malombe in a spot over staff pay

Kitui Governor Julius Malombe was yesterday hard pressed to explain why Sh511 million reimbursed to the national government had no supporting documents.

Malombe was making his third appearance before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee to respond to various audit questions raised against his administration by the Auditor General.

Auditor General Edward Ouko, in his 2013/2014 report, had noted Sh511,089,270 reimbursed to the government as salaries paid to the staff performing devolved functions on behalf of the county, could not be authenticated because of missing monthly payrolls.

STAFF SCHEDULES

According to the auditor, the county administration further failed to provide detailed staff schedules showing the monthly salary breakdown per ministry, making it hard to confirm the accuracy of the amount reimbursed to the national government.

But Malombe, who was appearing before the Kisumu Senator Anyang Nyong'o-led committee, exonerated himself from blame.

"All we did was to confirm the staff were with us before we refunded the cash to the national government. We verified the employees worked in the county and paid the government, not an individual," explained the governor.

The response did not convince Senator George Khaniri (Vihiga) who insisted that without a schedule and a payroll, it would be hard to ascertain whether the county residents received value for their money.

Senator Boni Khalwale (Kakamega), however, pointed out that it was unfair to pin down the governor on a matter that he had no control over. The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee chairman Karega Mutahi has been summoned.