House gets petition to remove Auditor General Edward Ouko

Auditor General Edward Ouko. (Photo: Boniface Okendo/Standard)

Auditor General Edward Ouko's fate hangs in the balance after a petition seeking his removal from office was tabled in Parliament.

The petition wants Mr Ouko sacked on grounds of violating the Constitution by allegedly failing to submit yearly reports to the House and the President, and using his position for procurement malpractices.

The petition accuses Ouko of hiring senior staff without the advice of the Audit Advisory Board.

It also cites him for wasting public funds through irregular procurements, key among them the single sourcing of an audit vault software at an inflated cost of Sh100 million.

Ouko is alleged to have colluded with his executive committee and Deputy Auditor General Stephen Kinuthia to irregularly approve procurement of the software.

On submission of reports, the petitioner claims the Auditor General never submitted a report from his office as required by Article 254(1) of the Constitution.

"The Constitution provides that as soon as practicable after each financial year, each commission and each holder of an independent office, shall submit a report to the President and to Parliament. Ouko has never done so," reads the petition by Emmanuel Mwagambo Mwagonah.