Kiambu coffers caughed Sh1.69 million to buy phones for Kiambu governor James Nyoro.
According to report by the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, the County Government of Kiambu acquired 11 mobile phones at a combined cost of Ksh1.69 million.
According to the audit report which was titled ‘Management Letter’, Governor James Nyoro made the irregular purchases in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
“The list of whom the mobile phones were issued to was not provided for audit. The store records; S3, S11, S12, and S13 for the phones were not provided for audit. Therefore, it could not be confirmed whether the mobile phones were recorded/entered in the stores,” the report reads in part.
The mobile phones purchased by the county were; 2 iPhone XS (Max) each for Ksh198,440, an iPhone X for Ksh198,000, and an Ipad at a cost of Sh170, 689, 2 Samsung S10s at a cost of Ksh146,160 each, a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and an Ipad Pro at a cost of Ksh145,000 each, and a Samsung Galaxy S4 at a cost of Ksh84,100.
According to the auditor general, all the phones surpassed the Ksh80,000 cap adviced by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
The letter was presented to the County Executive Committee Member for Finance Mburu Kangethe with the inscription, “the purpose of this letter is to bring to your attention the findings that were revealed during the audit.”
The audit report also revealed several other suspicious financial activities in the county for the financial year 2019/2020.
According to Gathungu, the county also spent Ksh19.5 million on airtime.
The auditor general flagged allowances paid to the county Ward Representatives and county staff, and stipends for attendees during public functions.
“The MCA’s might have been paid allowances for meetings that were not existent…allowances paid were unbudgeted for and unjustified…double payment of allowances may happen as the MCA’s might also have been paid from the county assembly budget,” the report reads in part.
According to the Auditor General, over Ksh100 million is believed to have been lost at a time Nyoro was the county’s acting governor.
The auditor general’s report which is dated December 30, 2020, was supposed to be kept internally by the county but local media houses reports that it was leaked by disgruntled MCAs against Governor Nyoro’s leadership.
