Ouko on the spot for audits

The scrutiny of the books of account of some parastatals was compromised because the Auditor General sub-contracted the services, MPs have said.

Members of the National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee (PIC) are unhappy that the Auditor General ignored the House, which had resolved that the services should not be sub-contracted.  

PIC opposed the contracts because of claims that some private consultants hired to audit some critical firms were colluding with their officials to return skewed reports.

The team is now concerned that despite the resolution, the Auditor General has continued to sub-contract the services.

Queries were raised about reports from some key parastatals in the energy sector that had been audited private auditors. There were claims that the auditors cleared the companies’ accounts under unclear circumstances.

The committee now wants Auditor General Edward Ouko to appear before it and explain why he had ignored a resolution of the House.

"The House was clear that the Auditor General should not sub-contract auditing of critical companies. We suspect that these reports are compromised. How do you convince me that while audit questions have been raised about accounts of almost all companies scrutinised by the Auditor General, those audited by the private firms appear clean?” asked PIC chairman Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita).

PIC has raised suspicions about the audit reports of several parastatals, including Kenya Power, Kenya Electricity Generating Company, Geothermal Development Company, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company and National Oil Corporation for the 2016/2017 financial year.