COB Nyakang’o Throws Garissa Governor Jama Under the Bus in Revenue Probe

The Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang’o confirmed that Garissa County submitted 12 Chief Officers late contrary to law.

The submission was made on May 24 2024. This submission followed the Governor Nathif Jama’s appearance before the Senate Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee to explain why the county had been without Chief Officers since 2022.
This revelation is a significant blow, and senators were shocked to learn that accounting officers who were not properly vetted by the county assembly were acting as accounting holders in the name of Chief Officers.

They suggested that the letter dated May 24 was an attempt to cover up the Governor’s illegal actions. Nyakang’o also disclosed the Garissa County Executive budgeted Sh10.7 billion but has only reported a paltry expenditure of Sh4.5 billion.

This translates to an absorption rate of 42.5 per cent, with the budgeted recurrent expenditure for the executive budgeted at Sh5.4 billion while for the County Assembly budgeted at Sh963.8 million.

Nyakang’o told the Senate Devolution and Intergovernmental Committee chaired by Wajir lawmaker Sheikh Abbas that Garissa reported an Own Source Revenue (OSR) of Sh153.5 million against an annual target of Sh230 million which represents a performance of 66.7 per cent.

She said revenue in the first nine months of 2023/24 financial year included Financial Intermediary Funds (FIFs) of Sh85.8 million which was not reported in the previous financial years.

The FIF target for the financial year is Sh139 million.

FIF are financial arrangements that typically leverage a variety of public and private resources in support of international initiatives, enabling the international community to provide a direct and coordinated response to global priorities.

“In the first nine months of financial year 2023/24, the county reported expenditure of Sh2.69 billion which translate to 47.1 per cent of the available revenue, which amounted to Sh5.73 billion,” reads part of Nyakang’o’s presentation.

Nyakang’o told the committee that in the financial year 2022/23, the expenditure on employee compensation was Sh4.77 billion or 51.6 per cent of the revenue for the financial year 2022/23 of Sh9.24 billion, which was above the limit of 35 per cent provided in law.

And now COB charges late submission of financial reports by the County Treasury to the Controller of Budget affecting the timely preparation of the budget implementation report.

Nyakang’o said by Fund Administrators to submit quarterly financial and non-financial reports to the COB within the timelines provided in law, which is against the requirement of Section 168 of the PFM Act, 2012.

“The Disaster Management Fund/Emergency Fund and Micro and Small Enterprises Development Revolving Fund reports were not submitted to the Controller of Budget,” said Nyakang’o.

According to COB, Personnel emoluments amounting to Sh203.40 million were processed through the manual payroll, accounting for 7.5 per cent of the total payroll cost, adding that the manual payroll is prone to abuse and may lead to the loss of public funds where there is a lack of proper controls.

Garissa County Executive had a high outstanding pending bills amounting to Sh425.48 million as of March 31, and failure to adhere to a payment plan.

COB now recommends that the County Treasury should ensure timely preparation and submission of financial reports to the Office of the Controller of Budget in line with the timelines prescribed in Section 166 of the PFM Act, 2012.

In addition, the County Executive Committee Member for Finance (CECMF) should follow up to ensure Fund Administrators prepare and submit statutory reports in line with the PFM Act, 2012.

“The Government requires that salaries be processed through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) system, and the County is advised to fast-track the acquisition of Unified Personnel Numbers for their staff,” said Nyakang’o.

The County government is under scrutiny on its operations at large.
The Senate uncovered a web of corruption and nepotism within the County Government of Garissa.
It has been revealed that Jama has been withdrawing money from public coffers without any Chief Officers for over two years.
He was taken to task by a senate committee as to why he operates without some Chief Officers for two years no as per the law.

Jama appeared before the Committee on Devolution and Inter-Governmental Relations to deliberate on a statement sought by Garissa Senator Abdul Haji on the state of governance in the county.
The committee heard he has been employing his relatives in key positions within the government.

They include Chief Financial Officer, Head of Payroll, Director of HR and many other crucial positions for his inner family.
The committee exposed how the entire county government is rife with what was seen as nepotism and discrimination.
The Governor and County Secretary however denied the claims.

They were accused of employing their siblings in various positions, further perpetuating the culture of corruption.
The matter is still under active probe.