Senate grills governor Abdullahi over Wajir Water Company mismanagement

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi when he appeared before the Senate National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration Committee at Bunge Tower in Nairobi on September 05, 2024.[FILE, Standard] The Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee has taken Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi to task over failure to address recommendations made to fix financial, structural and governance issues at the Wajir Water and Sewerage Company Limited. Abdullahi appeared before the committee chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi to respond to audit queries highlighted by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the Wajir Water and Sewerage Company Limited for the period ending June 2024. Osotsi said that it was disappointing that the Governor had not acted on 12 recommendations made by the committee in June last year to streamline services and protect public resources at the company and that the Senate could not pass resolutions in vain. "It is disappointing that 9 months later nothing has changed apart from the opinion that has moved from disclaimer to qualified and the Non-Revenue Water which has decreased from 82 to 63 per cent," said Osotsi. The recommendations came after the committee flagged several issues, including suspected fraud, theft and graft, that led to a high amount of Non-Revenue Water which stood at 82 per cent against the recommended 25 per cent. Nominated Senator Raphael Chimera said that the response by Abdullahi was not acceptable and that he needs to be serious about these issues unless he was preoccupied with the Council of Governors matters where he is serving as the Chairperson. The committee scrutinised the audit reports for the utility firm for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, identifying several inadequacies and leakages at the firm which included high non-revenue water, the absence of a board to run the company and various structural issues. In the previous reports, the auditor issued a disclaimer of opinion, meaning the auditor could not express an opinion on the financial statements due to the inability to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence, often due to limitations or circumstances beyond their control. "The issues we raised in the previous audit reports are the same issues flagged in this report, nothing has changed, Governor you are not being sincere with this committee it is visible to all of us here that you have not complied with the recommendations," said Osotsi. Abdullahi who appeared riled by the harsh criticism, requested the senators to treat him with dignity, taking issue with Senator Chimera's assertion that he was too preoccupied with the Council of Governors affairs at the expense of his county. The Governor said the comments made regarding his supposed distraction with the COG matters by Senator Chimera were misplaced since he was there to represent the interests of the people of Wajir County Abdullahi said that he had not received a letter requiring him to provide the committee with a report on the status of its recommendations and that his administration had made a report and there was no requirement for him to bring the report to the house. "I am requesting that when we come before this committee, we should be treated with some decorum, we responded within the timeline, in the letter I received, there was no requirement for me to bring that report before Senators, I could have gladly done that," said Abdullahi. Osotsi urged the governor to submit comprehensive measures taken to address the issue of high non-revenue water currently at 82 percent within 60 days and work with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the issue of non-revenue water. The committee urged the governor to take a keen interest in the management of the firm and to take charge of its operations to assess the possibility of illegal connections and corrupt practices that might be taking place. "This committee has instructed the Wajir Water company to prepare all financial statements from the Financial year 2020-21 onwards and submit these statements for audit in compliance with the law," said Osotsi. He was also required to submit the human resource audit report and indicate measures taken to ensure that the water company has a lean and efficient staff and asked Abdullahi to finalise the reconstitution of the Board of Directors within 30 days from the date of the meeting. Osotsi said that within 14 days from the date of the meeting, the Governor is to undertake asset mapping of all assets and liabilities of the water company and submit an updated asset register to the Committee. The Committee asked the EACC to conduct investigations into the financial operations of the water company for Financial Years 2020-21 and 2021-22 and file a preliminary report with the Committee within 30 days from the date of the meeting.

Senate grills governor Abdullahi over Wajir Water Company mismanagement

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