10:30
Nairobi, Kenya. Devolution ministry spent Sh.450, 000 for 18
custom-made condom dispensers. The Devolution Ministry could have lost up to
Sh11 billion due to inflated costs the Parliamentary Accounts Committee has
found.
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| Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru |
The expenses were discovered Tuesday as the Parliamentary Accounts
Committee scrutinized the ministry’s thick file of replies to the queries
raised in the Auditor-General’s report on the government’s accounts for the
2013/2014 financial year.
The Auditor-General had queried
the ministry’s failure to spend the Sh11 billion it had budgeted for in the
2013/2014 financial year.
It had spent Sh8 billion but had
not provided payment vouchers and a register of assets.
Here are some of the curious spends by the ministry:
Sh1.7 million was spent for a
screen in Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru's office and Sh12 million
for an office partition, in the 2013/2014 financial year.
Purchase of a copier at Sh1.5 million, Sh1.9million was
spent for free downloadable Adobe software while it can be bought at Sh160,000
and Sh250, 000 for ten flash disks.
Anti-virus software that can be bought at Sh75, 000 in the open
market but supplied to the ministry at Sh973, 780.
In November 2013, the Huduma Kenya Secretariat paid Sh242,500 for
100 4GB flash disks, meaning it paid Sh2,425 for a flash disk that ordinarily
costs Sh500 on the open market.
20 Ball point pens, fine tipped, blue each costing Sh8,700 at a
total cost of Sh174,000.
Two IPAD tablets each costing Sh180,000 amounting to Sh260,000.
One DVD player costing at Sh45,000.
One Piano costing around Sh235,900.
One Laptop at Sh206,000.
Two visitors chairs each costing Sh56,950.
Business cards Sh1.5 million.
100 Keyboards and adaptors each costing 40,000
The Devolution ministry is said to have lost Sh45 billion which it
collected from the Eurobond floated by the government.
The money is said to have been used in projects that cannot be
accounted for within the ministry.
The department of planning was allocated the second largest share
of the money after infrastructure.
This comes after opposition leaders criticized the allocation of
the Eurobond, demanding President Uhuru Kenyatta provide a specific breakdown
for the Sh250billion.
Cord leader Raila Odinga claimed the government could not account for
Sh75 billion from the Eurobond, amid indications the row could spill over into
the Judiciary.
But speaking in Parliament, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich defended the
government, saying the Eurobond’s proceeds had been prioritized for development
expenditures only.
