PS says NYS didn’t lose Sh9b, blames woes on predecessors

Suspended Youth Principal Secretary Lillian Mbogo-Omollo denied loss of Sh9 billion from the National Youth Service (NYS) when she appeared before a parliamentary committee on Friday.

A confident and composed Ms Omollo maintained her innocence, saying her only crime was to handle the mess left behind by her predecessors. She appeared alongside suspended NYS Director General Richard Ndubai.

“The loss of Sh9 billion as reported in the media would mean that NYS is technically closed. The amount under investigations is best presented by the investigative agencies,” she said.

The PS said the ministry still has 1,600 delivery notes, claims from supplies made to the NYS. She cited Firstling Supplies and Ngiwako Enterprises which were paid Sh1 billion and Sh60 million respectively but failed to provide the details of the supplies to NYS.

Declined to authorise

“The amounts pending are huge. I declined to authorise payments for about 1,600 claims that did not have supporting documentation like minutes while others were Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) without signatures of the AIE holders,” said Ms Omollo.

This comes as the fate of individuals who made supplies to NYS and have not been paid remains unclear.

The PS told the Opiyo Wandayi-led Public Accounts Committee that if there were irregular payments to companies, they are pending bills from 2013 and urged those responsible to take individual responsibility.

She expressed frustrations in battling the companies seeking payment with delivery notes without accompanying documents.

“We told them that we will not pay them because they lack proper documentation to prove their claims. Some have LPOs but were not signed by those required because they had been suspended from office,” she said.

When Mr Wandayi challenged the PS to furnish the committee with details of the ‘hawking’ companies, she promised to submit the list of all suppliers to NYS.

“The companies were pre-qualified from 2013. We have not enlisted any new companies since then. Those requests came to my desk but I do not know the individuals, including the one linked with the Sh60 million payment. Others we contract through the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities .”

The Public Finance Management Act provides that before any agency in Government procures any goods and services, there must be a budget for what is meant to be supplied or done. This means that if the individuals supplied items, there must have been a budget for it.

Jessica Mbalu (Kibwezi East) questioned the 2014/15 and 2015/16, Sh17 billion audit worth of NYS assets that could not be accounted for.

However, the June 2017 report appears to clear the audit, though it is yet to be tabled in the National Assembly for consideration by PAC.

Omollo took a swipe at the Auditor General Edward Ouko’s reports, saying: “Given the kind of fear the auditor general is instilling in us, he will not have missed to flag the alleged loss.”

“As a manager who inherited pending bills, wasn’t your curiosity aroused by the kind of monies paid to these companies. Did you bother to verify their details and goods and services offered?” Wandayi posed.

Fictitious companies

Omollo defended her office saying, “I took office in December 2015 and by January 2016, I formed a pending bills verification committee chaired by the internal auditor, drawing membership from all departments to make sense of the claims.”

Lawmakers demanded to know why fictitious companies were paid under her watch. She stuck to her guns: “It is not rocket science. Every officer taking part in the process had the right brief before approval. These companies dealt with the former office and ours was to verify payments.”

Nevertheless, the PS called on the officers to take individual responsibility for suspect payments made to companies. [email protected]