By: Brenda Holo
Worth Noting:
- According to the report of Auditor General, the County Government of Nakuru was allocated Ksh 600.11 million out of which Ksh 201.07 million was from the GoK Conditional grant, Ksh 10.54 million from Danida funds, Ksh 80.51 million from GoK workers allowances, Ksh 280 million from County own initiatives and Ksh 30 million from Kenya Devolution support program.
- As of the time of audit, the county was yet to pay 315 contracted health workers whose wage totalled to Ksh 13,680,000. They include 212 registered nurses, 30 registered clinical officers, 2 public health officers, 25 pharmaceutical technicians, 17 medical lab technicians, 5 health record officers, 17 enrolled nurses and 1 driver, 5 Bachelor of Science nurse, and 1 assistant public health officer 9.
It’s astonishing to find out that millions public funds meant to manage covid19 effects ended up in a few elites pockets, who were connected to the political class or the political class itself. This revelation is so sad bearing in mind that COVID-19 was not an ordinary disease to be belittled in whatever manner, but it was unusual disease never experienced in the world there before and which had a potential to wipe a generation. It’s so shocking that instead of these well connected elites utilizing these public resources to the later, in making sure that there are appropriate infrastructures to arrest the effects of Covid-19 in view of its un reversible damages, they were actual doing contrary, creating an environment to catalyst it’s effects to the later.
It’s so unfortunate that some elites were busy using this environment of Covid-19 to mint and loot public funds for COVID-19 to enrich themselves to later, as if they will not face the inevitable cruel hand of death, at the detrimental of large population who were at risk of not escaping the unforgiving hand of death which was ready to send thousands of people to the graves courtesy of covid19.
According to the report of Auditor General, the County Government of Nakuru was allocated Ksh 600.11 million out of which Ksh 201.07 million was from the GoK Conditional grant, Ksh 10.54 million from Danida funds, Ksh 80.51 million from GoK workers allowances, Ksh 280 million from County own initiatives and Ksh 30 million from Kenya Devolution support program.
The Audit Queries aver that:
- Absence of work plans, procurement plans and training plans for conditional grants, Danida and SDP funds received from National Government.
- Delay in utilization of the Conditional Grant, Danida, and KDSP funds amounting to Ksh 241,608,000
- Failure to open Special Purpose Account for the Covid-19 grant with 15 days
- Analysis of IPPD and Payroll data revealed that workers had been paid of Ksh 83,418,833 in different months July, August and September which is Ksh 2,913,833, above the allocated budget for frontline health workers allowances.
- The county reported to have paid Ksh 83,283,833 to 1976 workers which did not include Ksh 135,000 for the 7 workers. Omission of payment of Ksh 135,000 for 7 workers.
- As of the time of audit, the county was yet to pay 315 contracted health workers whose wage totalled to Ksh 13,680,000. They include 212 registered nurses, 30 registered clinical officers, 2 public health officers, 25 pharmaceutical technicians, 17 medical lab technicians, 5 health record officers, 17 enrolled nurses and 1 driver, 5 Bachelor of Science nurse, and 1 assistant public health officer 9.
- Overpayment of Ksh 292,500 to Lake Nakuru resort
- Inadequate support of payment vouchers for Ksh 312,385,235. The payment vouchers did not have adequate support documents linking them to their tendering process. The requisition forms, extracts of tender reports/minutes, contracts and distribution reports were not attached to payment
- Failure to value donations in kind and disclose the value in appropriate books of account.
These donations included hand sanitizers, KN95 masks, ventilator, face shield, gowns and other materials.
Establishments of Centre for Enhancing Democracy and Good Governance (CEDGG) a Non-profit organization in Kenya based in Nakuru in solidarity against the misuse of these funds had this to say:
“We have taken time to investigate the Auditor General’s report on the use of money that was allocated to address the issue of the covid-19 epidemic. We did this to facilitate transparency in the use of public money, but especially to enable citizens who want to be more involved in knowing what is going on with their money.
The three things that have been noted are that the money that was allocated could not be used, it will be noted that out of the money that was allocated six hundred and two million in the year 2019/20220 we saw 280 was used”.
Despite the constitution of Kenya 2010 having the provision of access to information in chapter four, article 35, there is no Nakuru County government entity that is willing to supply information in respect to the usage of COVID-19 funds. Several attempts to access information in that respect in the relevant offices including the Assembly which is mandated to oversight the executive have hit a snag. My request of access to information was declined for there was no single respond to that effect. These gestures violated my right to access to information as espoused in article 35 and read together with Access To Information Act 2016. No county Government official is willing to be interviewed on the subject matter of usage of COVID-19 funds. This information seems to be classified to the later as the way marijuana is sold secretly in slums.
One of top administrator of Nakuru government who requested not to be named because of victimization aver that tenders to supply food stuffs and other COVID-19 materials including services never followed the procurement procedures. The tenders were all reserved to the political elites, and it was who is who in the County. It’s was all about scrabbling and partition as the way Africa was scrabbled subdivided by the ill-advised colonialists, the so called the whites men, and women if indeed they were among them.
This government official further avers that “tenders were awarded to the companies that did not qualify as per the enabling laws. It’s was how well you’re connected to the elites. That was the basic requirement”.
“The foods stuffs that were procured for purposes of mitigating hunger and as a relief to the vulnerable across 55 Nakuru County wards were too little compared to the millions of shillings which were allocated for that course in each ward. Each household being given one bar soup, five kg of maize floor two litters of cooking oil, two kg of beans and two kg of rice which can’t sustain a family for one week”, says that government official. “The maize were contaminated and some were rotten unfit for human consumption”. It’s so tragic that in a pandemic some elites can supply food stuffs that are unfit for human consumption and yet they expect to be paid millions of shillings for goods delivered. It’s so unfortunate that because of the fear that was in the atmosphere in view of anybody being vulnerable of getting the virus, there were no checks and balances to foods stuffs supplied, for there was limited movement.
“The so called services rendered during COVID-19 times many never happened”, says this government official. “Activities like community sensitization by road shows for the communities to make informed decisions in respect to the covid19 effects many never happened. So many were hoaxes.” He aver that “some elites just cooked papers here and there for purposes of services rendered and allowances which in reality they hoaxes. It was all about scrabbling for how much you can draw from these emergency COVID-19 funds”.
The measures put in place in our public hospitals to manage covid19 and displayed in media, were just a cosmetic public relation exercise. The Doctors, nurses and other hospital stuffs were being exposed to danger of contracting this virus. Yes it’s true that there were little PPEs and other preventive materials supplied to medical fraternities but they were so few.
A Nakuru based grassroot human right defender Mr Laban Omusundi aver that, “foods that were delivered in all 55 wards of the Nakuru county to the selected vulnerable families in each ward was a mockery compared to millions that were allocated to each ward”. He says that maize was rotten and unfit for human consumption, a statement that is in harmony with the County official cited above. He recommends that the EACC should take appropriate action against these elites who misused public money for covid19 in the context of mitigating Covid-19 effects.
Millions of COVID-19 funds remain unaccountable for. Covid19 was a pandemic and funds for covid19 were another pandemic too.
This feature was produced as a result of capacity Building Workshop for journalists on Investigative Journalism &Accurate Reporting on public finance. By the assistance of Association of Media Women in Kenya in partnership with Hivos East Africa
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