KMTC Boss Appears Before National Assembly Committee Over Audit Queries
Dr Kelly Oluoch prepares to face the committee
By Our Reporter
Worth Noting:
- “Falsified bank slips were detected and the students were flagged out. However, they have since paid the said Sh19,389,345. We have also put in place mechanisms to stop further fraud after we realised that some of these students were misled by some of our staff,” the CEO submitted.
- Committee Members, Geoffrey Wandeto (Tetu) and Mary Wamaua (Maragua) asked the CEO to provide the committee with details of the students who had engaged in the said fraud.
- They requested for students names, admission numbers, amounts paid, the dates and affiliated KMTC Campuses.
- This was after the members realised that management had acknowledged the receipts before disowning them.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) Dr. Kelly Oluoch yesterday took the hot seat before the Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture to respond to audit queries from Audit Reports for the Financial Year 2017/2018.
The Committee members led by Emmanuel Wangwe from Navakholo constituency sought justification for the queries raised on receivables and reconciliation of bank accounts.
This was after the report showed that the management claimed to have established that Sh19.3 million said to have been paid by students from various KMTC Campuses was flagged off after discovering that the receipts presented by the students were fake.
“Falsified bank slips were detected and the students were flagged out. However, they have since paid the said Sh19,389,345. We have also put in place mechanisms to stop further fraud after we realised that some of these students were misled by some of our staff,” the CEO submitted.
Committee Members, Geoffrey Wandeto (Tetu) and Mary Wamaua (Maragua) asked the CEO to provide the committee with details of the students who had engaged in the said fraud.
They requested for students names, admission numbers, amounts paid, the dates and affiliated KMTC Campuses.
This was after the members realised that management had acknowledged the receipts before disowning them.
The issue of land ownership by the College was also raised. The matter appears second under property plant and equipment as enlisted in the Auditor’s report.
The legislators sought to know why many campuses had not aquired title deeds on the parcels of land they were sitting on.
In his response, Dr. Oluoch pointed out that a number of Campuses did not possess legal documents attributing the challenges to resistance by County Governments.
“The mother titles are owned by former Provincial Hospitals under county Governments. The affected areas are KMTCs in Kisumu, Mombasa, Embu, and Meru among others,” he revealed.
Dr. Oluoch however told the committee that they are engaging County Governors and the National Lands Commission to settle the matter.
On Receivables from exchange and non-exchange transactions, Caleb Amisi from Saboti asked the CEO to produce the lease agreements on properties owned by the organisation. He cited the Soweto hostel tussle between KMTC and University of Nairobi.
Dr. Oluoch informed the Members that the University of Nairobi has continued to ignore the lease despite accomodating their students in the said hostel.
“They have declined to pay us the amounts agreed, it has been a sabotage all along. We have written letters and even reported to the AG who stated clearly that the ownership of the property was contentious and required determination,” noted Dr. Oluoch.
He also disclosed a number of challenges delaying arbitration process clearly stating that KMTC does not benefit from the property.
In his final submissions, Dr. Oluoch told the committee that KMTC currently has a deficit of 2,000 staff. He suggested that this could be solved by requesting for the secondment of staff from County Governments from both among the teaching and non-teaching staff.
With regard to employment of Nurses from KMTC, the CEO said that currently 9,000 nurses are out of work, although there are plans to source for jobs overseas, without affecting the local needs for healthcare workers.
The committee sittings resume next week.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Africa reels from energy shocks, Ebola fears and growth slowdown as Middle East conflict ripples across continent
- Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 in World Cup clash as Messi nets hat-trick
- France defeat Senegal 3-1 as Mbappé double fires Les Bleus to victory
- Accounts committee probes audit queries on office of the President accounts
- Kenya hunts new coffee markets
About the Author
