Finally Homa Bay County Governor cleared over audit report.

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti has been cleared of nearly all the audit queries raised by the Controller and Auditor General last year regarding the financial misappropriations.

Awiti, who is the first governor to have appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said he was encouraged by the level of professionalism during the grilling process.

The governor, who appeared with his top county officials before the committee explained that most of the issues raised regarding the financial operations of the county.

PAC chairman, Boni Khalwale urged other governors not to fear meeting the Senate over the same. He had been accused by the auditor general of procuring receipt books from Africa Herald Publishing House at Sh1.2 million among other things without following the procurement procedures through tender as per requirements of section 54 of the Public Procurement Act 2005.

However in response, Awiti said by the time his team assumed office in 2013, the former county council had signed a deal with the publishing house to supply it with receipts.

On the personnel and payroll audit, Awiti said when they assumed office they inherited about 593 employees in August 2013 but the number increased to 2,044 after the National government forced them to absorb the employees. Dr Khalwale told the governor to ensure that he automates the revenue collection.

He said Awiti needs to hasten the appointment of the chairman and secretary of the Public Service Commission (PSC) who have died. He also told the auditor general to ensure that the national audit office publishes each county’s financial report to avoid waiting until they are through with all the 47 counties.

Kenyan's tax payers will continue suffering

About a quarter of Kenya's Sh2.2 trillion budget
cannot be adequately accounted for, the auditor
general has said.
Commentators said the report by Auditor General
Edward Ouko's office exposed the scale of official
corruption in Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy,
which investors often cite as a hurdle to doing
business there.
In the report released late on Tuesday, the auditor
general said 2014/15 spending worth Sh450 billion
was not properly accounted for, demonstrating
"persistent and disturbing problems in collection
and accounting for revenue".
"Corruption thrives in a big way in government
offices, yet little is being done to arrest the
situation," he said.
"We must end the culture of misuse of state
resources. Those implicated must be seized and
punished."
Spending cited in the auditor's report included
Sh113 billion in "unconfirmed subscriptions" to
international bodies, and an unexplained over-
payment of Sh38 billion by the Transport Ministry.
The figure did not include an audit of county
spending, which was done separately.
"As reported under the respective revenue
statements, the discrepancies are mainly due to
unexplained and unreconciled differences between
revenue statement balances and the exchequer
records maintained by the National Treasury," the
report said.
The report was released shortly after Obama called
on Kenyans at the weekend to do more to end graft
to help the economy grow faster.
"Here in Kenya, it's time to change habits, and
decisively break that cycle, because corruption holds
back every aspect of economic and civil life," said
Obama, whose father was Kenyan.
Obama said the government had to show it was
tackling corruption with prominent prosecutions,
adding that it was an issue that also needed to be
addressed elsewhere in Africa.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the fight against graft
was a priority when he took office in 2013, but
critics complain that too little has been done.
Uhuru promised in March to take personal charge
of the battle against corruption and said that any
official being investigated for graft must step aside.
Transport CS Michael Kamau has been charged over
abuse of office, while Lands CS Charity Ngilu has
been charged with obstructing an investigation.
A spokesman for Uhuru and the Transport ministry
did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Past Kenyan governments have made similar
commitments to fight corruption, only to have the
campaigns fizzle away.

HOMA BAY COUNTY GOVERNOR APPEARED BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND INVESTMENTS

Today the Governor for Homa Bay H.E. Cyprian Otieno Awiti appeared before the Senate Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments on the financial operations of Homa Bay County in the 2013/2014 financial years.
This is a routine appearance to respond to queries raised by the Auditor General. Most the governors have  developed resistance to do what H.E. Awiti did today and this clearly shows that the homa bay county governor is a brave leader sure of himself. He attended the questions that were presented to him and made the unclear issues clear.  senators praised him for appearing before them at a time many governors were avoiding appearing before them to shed light on their expenditures

LUO NYANZA LEADERS HAVE DECIDED NOT TO BE FOOLED AGAIN ABOUT TYRANY OF NUMBERS

Couples in Migori county have been asked to deny partners without IDs and voters cards sex and marriage benefits, this is done as a way to motivate the partners without IDs to seek for the IDs  to ensure Cord leader Raila Odinga becomes the next president in 2017.
During a tour of five constituencies last Friday, ODM leaders asked opposition supporters to ensure either the man or woman, or both, acquire the documents.
“Any adult who has reached sexual maturity in Migori should never be offered any comfort of sex unless he has the two vital documents,” said Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang’.
He went ahead  and urged girls not to date or marry men without the documents saying they can neither open bank accounts nor use mobile money transfer services therefore they will continue being bankrupt and will never provide for their families .
“Some jealous men have refused to allow their wives to get the vital documents as they are afraid they may acquire an M-Pesa account and get money from their side lovers,” he said.
Women should sleep "while facing the wall", while men should send wives without IDs and voters cards back home, said Homa Bay women's representative Gladys Wanga.
“We will also instruct elders never to allow any woman to be married in their homesteads without an ID,” she said. The leaders said said they will create small
groups in villages whose members will ensure locals acquire the documents.