Kidero told to sack top county officials over corruption
Governor Evans Kidero has been asked to sack top officials, including County Secretary Lillian Ndegwa, over alleged abuse of office and incompetence.
On Thursday, MCAs passed a motion that will see the exit of senior finance officials over their alleged role in blocking the auditor-general from accessing crucial information.
Former Treasurer Jimmy Kiamba who is now the Chief Finance Officer is on the chopping board alongside his former deputy Stephen Osiro who now serves as the Head of Treasury.
CRUCIAL RECORDS
Former Chief accountant who is now Head of County Revenue Luke Gatimu is also facing exit as well as his former deputy Nancy Kirui who now heads budgeting.
The officials are accused of failing to prepare and maintain crucial accounting records to validate financial statements for the period ending February 28 2013.
The County Secretary is accused of withholding information from officers from the Kenya National Audit office for two years.
The MCAs said Mrs Ndegwa should be sacked for incompetence dereliction of duties and gross violations to the constitutions.
The Public Accounts Committee, led by Mr Robert Mbatia, who brought the recommendations in a report of Audited Accounts for the County as at 2013, maintained Mrs Ndegwa was uncooperative.
The MCAs said she misled PAC that she had instructed and even warned officers to cooperate with the auditor general’s office yet all the officers under her denied it.
‘LIED TO US’
“Mr Speaker, we could have exonerated her if she had cooperated with the auditor general but she did not and even lied to us that she had warned her officers who were uncooperative,” he said.
The committee has been investigating the queries raised by the Auditor General that painted the Nairobi Executive in bad light.
The Auditor General’s report on Nairobi City County accuse senior staff of abuse of office and incompetence during transition from the Defunct City Council.
Revenue leakages was singled out as one of the biggest issues, with under-banking of revenue costing the county about Sh252 million in the period between January and June 2013.
In the same period, Sh60 million was collected as cess income but only Sh57 million was receipted.
But Sarangombe MCA Pius Kotieno defended Mrs Ndegwa saying that she was not office during the period under review.