Kiambu county under governor Dr James Nyoro used Ksh1.69 million to purchase 11 phones for the county, a new audit report by auditor general Nancy Gathungu has revealed.
According to the report, the purchases were done in the 2019/2020 fiscal year, with each phone costing between Ksh84,000 and Ksh198,000.
The county purchased 2 iPhone XS (Max) at a cost of Ksh198,440 each, an iPhone X at a cost of Ksh198,000, and an Ipad at a cost of Ksh170,689.
The county also bought 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.
The market price for an iPhone XS (Max) is around Ksh90,000, an iPhone X around Ksh65,000 and an iPad (7th Gen) goes for Ksh70,000.
A Samsung S10s normally goes for Ksh57,000 while a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 retails at Ksh53,000. An Ipad Pro retails at Ksh125,000 while a Samsung Galaxy S4 retails at around Ksh10,000.
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“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 says in part.
The auditor general also faulted the county for surpassing the Ksh80,000 cap prescribed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
During the year under review, the county also spent Ksh19.5 million on airtime.
Members of County Assembly (MCAs) and county staff received allowances and stipends worth Ksh100 million, believed to have been awarded irregularly.
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Ksh62 million was paid to MCAs to finance workshops and retreats in Mombasa and Naivasha, of Ksh10 million paid as allowances to MCAs. The amount was paid between January 5 and 11, 2020.
“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,” added the report.
Ksh11 million was paid to the county leaders while at a workshop in Mombasa in October 2019, Ksh9 million for a budgetary meeting, Ksh3 for a seminar they attended in Naivasha.
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