Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru was at pains to clarify how the county authorities spent near Sh1 million on leisure through the launch of the Kerugoya automobile park mission.

Appearing earlier than a Senate oversight committee on Tuesday, the governor added insult to harm after saying the Sh781,000 spent on leisure companies was used to move individuals to the launch.

The damning revelations got here through the Senate’s Public Accounts Committee assembly when it was contemplating a report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu for the monetary 12 months ending June 2021. 

According to the report, Sh781,000 was paid to a vendor for offering leisure companies through the official launch of Kerugoya Town automobile park.

Ms Gathungu stated the development of the Kerugoya automobile park, roads, footpaths and related works have been carried out by the nationwide authorities via the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) and due to this fact the county govt shouldn’t have incurred any unbudgeted expenditure.

Appearing earlier than the committee, Ms Waiguru defended the expenditure, saying the mission was funded by a conditional grant from the World Bank with the participation of the county authorities. 

As a flagship mission of the county, the governor stated her administration had a professional mandate to launch the mission and the quantity used was correctly budgeted for beneath the county authorities’s companies price range line for publicity, consciousness and promotion.

However, the committee chairperson, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’, requested the governor to offer a breakdown of how the cash was spent on leisure companies.

The auditors additionally stated they anticipated the county authorities to offer a proof and breakdown of the entire expenditure, procurement processes and a price range line.

“We want to know exactly how the Sh781,000 was used. Did you pay that money to an entertainer? So we want to know who this entertainer is who is charging Sh781,000 for a day,” stated Mr Kajwang’. 

However, the second time period governor maintained that the cash was not spent on leisure however on offering tents, chairs, sound system and refreshments through the occasion.

“Apart from the tents, we also provided transport for people to attend the event. There was no entertainment. We don’t have entertainment during the official launch. We just have women who come to sing and we don’t pay them,” she stated.

However, the committee questioned whether or not what the ladies have been doing was not leisure, to which she replied that they have been simply welcoming individuals, to laughter within the room.

Governor Waiguru then requested for the phrase leisure to be corrected, saying the query was not in regards to the quantity however why they have been spending cash on a nationwide authorities mission. 

But Senator Kajwang’ hit again: “That is your perspective. For us, what stands out is the Sh781,000 spent on entertainment. These are the things that make devolution look bad.”

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna challenged the governor to level to the regulation that requires him to fee tasks after they’re accomplished.

“There is no legal mandate that requires you to launch a road. I have never seen the need to launch a project after it is completed. There is no legal need or mandate to do that and you cannot justify it with Sh781,000. If it was Sh100,000, we would have let it go, but this is close to a million,” stated Mr Sifuna.

The committee chairman additionally challenged the governor to disprove the Auditor General’s declare that the expenditure was on leisure companies by offering proof.

“We still don’t have any visibility. No annexes, just stories. We need you to break down the expenditure,” stated the legislator. 

“In the absence of the evidence, we will agree with the Auditor General that in the circumstances, the Sh781,000 was not a proper charge on public funds unless you are able to show the breakdown in seven days,” he added.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei additionally questioned why the county authorities had not connected any doc to justify the expenditure.

“What is a budgeted item and where is the proof? What was it all about to justify the use of this kind of money to see the reality of the use of the money?” he requested.