COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF KIRINYAGA

PRESS STATEMENT ON COVID-19 FUNDS AUDIT REPORT

15TH APRIL 2021

My attention has been drawn to misleading reports in some media

regarding observations made in the Auditor General’s report on the
use of Covid-19 funds by the County Government of Kirinyaga. The
media reports were not only misleading but held a biased view
of the observations made which could consequently mislead the
public. My response is as below;

1. I would like to remind the specific media house the context in

which this audit was carried out; the country was months into
the pandemic which had effectively strained our health
facilities to the limit, the county executive was embroiled in an
impeachment process and at the time had ongoing court
battles with the assembly regarding budget allocations. This is
why any reporting on the audit cannot and should not be
done in isolation without an appreciation of the facts above.

2. The auditor’s report observed that the County Government

lacked an approved work plan and budget for Covid-19 related
items. Like many counties, the allocation of COVID funds by
the national government necessitated a supplementary
budget. This could not be done in Kirinyaga as the budget
was the subject of a court proceeding due to the then
ongoing dispute between the County Executive and the County
Assembly.

3. The report further noted that additional funds provided by the

national government required the setup of a fund which by law
requires regulations approved by the county assembly. Due to
the dispute going on at the time between the County Assembly
and the County Executive, there was delay in the approval of
these regulations by the county assembly, a position which
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 remained so at the time of audit. However, these have since
been approved by the assembly.

4. On Procurement of Goods without a budget and procurement

plan, the Covid-19 goods procured were all captured in our
Procurement Plan which was duly approved by CECM-
Finance and Economic planning as per Section 53(5) of the
PPAD ACT 2015. This was done based on indicative budget
that was at the period of audit still being adjudicated at the
County Assembly.

5. It is important to note that the County Government had

established an emergency fund in line with section 110 of
PFM Act 2012 which consisted of money appropriated by the
County Assembly to fund emergency expenditures. The
County Executive duly used these provisions of the law to
undertake procurement of low value requirements as per
sections 107 and 108 of PPAD Act 2015.

6. Section 135 of the PFM Act 2012 further stipulates that a

County Government may spend money that has not been
appropriated if the amount appropriated for any purpose
under the county appropriation act is insufficient or a need
has arisen for the expenditure for a purpose for which no
amount has been appropriated by that Act or money has been
withdrawn from the County Government Emergency Fund.
Therefore, in responding to the existing crisis and given the
conflict between the Executive and the Assembly at the time
which delayed development of a new supplementary budget,
the emergency funds were used to tackle the covid-19 health
crisis.

7. The county received donations from the Council of Governors,

the East African Breweries, Safaricom Foundation, Tropical
and One-Acre whose inventories were duly received through
the relevant stock ledgers. The story inventory records are
usually updated once deliveries have been duly inspected and
accepted. The county used the inventory management
module in the Hospital Management Information System
to keep record of all donations received.
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 8. These are just examples of issues raised by the auditor on the
use of COVID-19 funds in Kirinyaga County. I confirm that we
did provide sufficient proof of compliance and in the few
instances where the case was not so, it was due to matters
beyond the county’s control such as court orders relating to
the ongoing dispute between the executive and the assembly
at the time.

9. I am a proponent of public accountability and transparency,

especially as relates to the use of public resources. I believe
that every shilling should be accounted for and its use evident
in the lives of those we serve.

10. In Kirinyaga, this is evident through the many

projects we have done such as 11 markets, 250 bed capacity
Kerugoya Level 5 Hospital, cabro parkings in major towns and
empowerment of over 5,000 households now earning
additional Ksh 1,000 a day through our Wezesha Kirinyaga
Programme.

11. We have also constructed additional wards in all our

subcounty hospitals such as the male ward in Baricho Health
Center, maternity wards in Kianyaga and Kimbimbi hospitals
as well as X-ray unit in Sagana Hospital.

My government and I remain unwaveringly committed to the service

of the people of Kirinyaga.

H.E. Anne Waiguru, E.G.H., O.G.W.

GOVERNOR, KIRINYAGA COUNTY