Senators Demand Forensic Audit on Sh7B Wajir County Pending Bills

Senators demanded that the Wajir County Government conduct a forensic audit of the pending bills after they grew from Sh1 billion to Sh5.5 billion in just two months, raising questions.

This comes even as an additional Sh 1.5 billion was declared as a pending bill which was a statutory deduction from the county employees that the county failed to remit.

The problems afflicting Wajir County, which is currently ranked second after Nairobi County in terms of outstanding bills, were exposed by Ahmed Abdullahi, the county’s governor, in a hearing of the Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC).

“If an audit has been done as of 30th June and the liability is Sh1 billion, an election happens in August, and Governors are sworn in the middle of August, how do I get a report that the pending bill is Sh5.5 billion, its either that the report of assumption is completely fraudulent or that the audit has understated the liabilities,” said Abdullahi.

CPAC Chair Moses Kajwang called for the Office of the Auditor General to investigate the authenticity of the pending bills saying that Governor Abdullahi’s task force to investigate the pending bills is conflicted.

“We have fallen short of declaring Wajir County a crime scene because we should have a forensic audit. We have the option to encourage you to carry the effort of investigating the pending bills but we must ask the Auditor General and EACC to handle the audit,” said Kajwang, adding, “Governor you must first charge the Sh1.5 billion statutory funds that were deducted and not remitted by the end of July.”

Senator Okiya Omtatah of Busia ordered a forensic investigation and vowed that everyone responsible—whether they were in government or not—would be held accountable under the law.

“It’s depressing listening to this narrative, the law has to be applied, the EACC and the Auditor general should do a forensic audit with a view to criminally holding accountable the individuals who were in the office and who are responsible for this sad reality that is hitting us,” Omtatah said.

Samson Cherargei, vice chair of CPAC, stressed that counties will continue to benefit from devolution if the problem is not addressed.

“Now this issue has gone beyond special audit but a forensic audit with possibilities of prosecution because that is how seriously we can fight corruption with counties,” the Nandi Senator said.

Sen. Richard Onyonka of Kisii expounded on the need for the watchdog committee to come to a conclusion about the issue of the pending bill, which has turned out to be a money-making machine in devolved areas.

“It’s sad that devolution has become a circus where are sharing money from poor people. We are dragging our country from where it is right now where it’s extremely unfortunate,” Onyonka said.

During the previous administration, the Wajir County Government experienced a leadership crisis due to two governors vying for control of the county.

After former Wajir Governor Mohamud Abdi Mohammed was impeached in 2021, Ahmed Muktar, the deputy governor, took over as the county’s leader.

The Controller of Budget (CoB) was about to release Sh2 billion to settle unpaid bills in Wajir County when the High Court intervened.

The fact that Muktar and Mohamud were both in charge after the impeached governor was supposedly reinstated by the courts informed the court orders.