Afya House auditor defends queries he raised in interim report

The Auditor who compiled the interim report in the Ministry of Health Bernard Muchere stresses a point when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Health to explain corruption allegation saga in the the Ministry at Parliament Chambers 15-11-16 PHOTO MOSES OMUSULA

The auditor who lifted the lid on the Sh5 billion Health ministry scandal has said his report raised important questions that require answers.

Bernard Muchere told the Senate's Health Committee there is need for the ministry to account for the money whose expenditure his leaked audit questioned.

"I have no doubts about the leaked report. It was the same one I worked on," he told the team led by Migori Senator Wilfred Machage.

Muchere, who heads the Internal Audit Unit at the ministry, yesterday said it was Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu who asked him to carry out the audit.

Mailu had told the committee he did not commission the audit as claimed, the reason he declined to act on it.

"Interim reports are not very common but they are done after request by the management, to give it a picture of what is happening in an institution. I embarked on the audit and the report was exclusively meant for the CS, who asked me to do it," Muchere said.

"He (Dr Mailu) instructed me to do the audit. It was intended to give the CS information to enable him make decisions. It wasn't for anything else." 

However, the auditor was reluctant when asked if he agreed with the figures on the amount the ministry may have lost, only saying the analysis was wrong.

"It is only the analysis of the figures that I read in the newspapers I do not agree with," Muchere said. 

Mailu and his PS Nicholas Muraguri have denied claims the ministry has lost Sh5 billion, insisting only Sh3.1 billion is yet to be accounted for.

When they appeared before the committee, Mailu and Muraguri turned the heat on Muchere, accusing him of leaking the report to the media.

The report pointed out that Sh800 million was paid to a firm, Estama Investment Ltd, to supply 100 mobile clinics way before the facilities were delivered.

Another Sh515 million was diverted from the National Aids Control Programme and Sh350 spent on illegal expansion of buildings. At least Sh889 million meant for free maternity was diverted to other uses. 

Meanwhile, Muchere said he did not find it necessary to hand the report to the PS or alert him about the process because he is not the one who asked for the internal audit.

This was after he was accused of violating procedures by presenting the report directly to the CS and not Muraguri, who is the ministry's accounting officer.

"If the PS had asked me to carry out the audit, I would have given him the report. I found it unnecessary to give him a copy because I expected the CS to share the information with his PS," he said.

He denied leaking the report after Nominated Senator Zipporah Kittony asked him to explain how the incomplete document found its way to the media.

"I can authoritatively say the report did not leak from my office. I typed it myself on my personal computer and took it to the CS. No one has the password to my laptop," said Muchere.

Muchere, who said he is yet to complete the audit, is expected back before the committee on Tuesday next week when he will table the final report.