The government has been urged to appoint a substantive Auditor General without further delay, in order to generate confidence among wananchi that the money raised for the management of the coronavirus pandemic was being utilized for the intended purpose.
The Chairman of Nakuru People’s Watch Lobby Group, Jesse Karanja said the rumours on the misuse of the pandemic money was likely to gain credence since Kenyans were aware that the appointment of an auditor general has not been finalized.
The former Auditor General Edward Ouko left office last year August but so far the government has not found a replacement. The process is on-going with a team to lead the search for his replacement having been set up.
Karanja said there were so many officials from the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) and county governments who have taken the vulnerable people’s names and identification numbers from the slums in the guise of implementing relief assistance, but so far nothing has been delivered.
“We are getting concerned that some people may be siphoning the poor peoples’ money, after collecting their names, IDS and signatures and it will be impossible for somebody seated in Nairobi to ascertain whether the foodstuffs were delivered or it was just hot air,’’ he stated.
He added that without an auditor general in office it was assumed by wananchi that the Public Audit Act was not being implemented to the letter since there was no substantive office holder to examine and account for the appropriate spending of the citizens’ tax.
However, before he left office the former Auditor General, Edward Ouko had complained about the Act since it doesn’t make the auditor’s report actionable, and he had appealed to the government to seal a number of loopholes in the Act.
But according Karanja said, despite the ambiguity in the Act, no report in the country was appreciated and believed as the auditor generals’, since all their reports tend to confirm people’s misgivings on how taxpayers money has continued to be misused unabated.
Meanwhile, the role of the Auditor General is to countercheck all government spending by carrying out annual audits, while assisting parliament to hold to account all persons entrusted with the management of public funds and resources.
By Veronica Bosibori
Government Petitioned to Appoint Auditor General
