By David Wanjala
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has commended the County Government of Makueni’s initiative to invite the graft watchdog to a roundtable on matters of corruption prevention.
During a consultative meeting in Wote in November, EACC Commissioner John Ogalo expressed his gratitude to Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr for the bold step.
“We welcome this initiative as it demonstrates a commitment on your part to address corruption and unethical practices in the county government,” said Commissioner Ogalo, appreciating the county for its “Whole-of-Government approach” in tackling corruption in the county.
This September, Makueni invited the Commission to review its systems, policies, procedures, and practices., with the Commission proposing a consultative meeting to work out modalities of implementation of the report of its 2019 Systems Review that the country held in 2019. EACC’s Director of Preventive Services Vincent Okong’o, presented the 2019 Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) report into the systems, policies, procedures, and practices for both the County Executive (CE) and County Assembly (CA).
Findings in the County Executive CRA highlighted myriad issues that needed fixing to seal loopholes that provide a conducive environment for corruption to thrive. On the Operating Environment, the CE had not developed some governance instruments such as policies and manuals – which the Report noted allows for discretion that may lead to irregularities in the management of CE operations.
On Financial Management, the Report recommends strengthening the management of the Tetheka Revolving Fund to enhance loan repayment and debt collection in line with Section 116 of the PFM (Public Finance Management) Act, 2012. The fund financial statements for FY16/17 & 17/18 showed that while 57.9% of the amount disbursed was recovered, 17% was written off.
The Report also showed that the Executive had used the imprest facility to implement projects and activities which should be procured through tender or quotations – a loophole that may lead to misappropriation of funds. Furthermore, the CE failed to maintain a comprehensive fixed asset register, which could lead to the pilferage of County Assets – some of the asset ownership documents were registered under the names of defunct local authorities, which could easily lead to theft and misrepresentation in financial statements.
On Supply Chain Management, the Report showed instances where quotations were issued to service providers who were not on the prequalified list – a fertile ground for bid rigging, bias, conflict of interest, and loss of funds through the non-competitive engagement of suppliers to which the report recommended strict adherence to Regulation 59(2)(b) of Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations (PPADR 2006). There were also instances when some procurement requisitions were sent out without all the requisite approvals, and where the CE lacked a disposal plan for obsolete items.
Issues were also flagged in Project, Human Resources, and Records management. Project management, for instance, some completed and handed-over projects were dilapidated within three years. In HR, some officers had served in acting capacity for durations longer than specified in the County’s HR policies and procedure manuals of 2017. The CE did not have designated registries in the departments where mail could be received and dispatched to officers for action.
Okong’o called on both the County Executive and Assembly to use the Report to “map out more inherent corruption risks in other areas that may affect the service delivery and put in place appropriate mitigation measures.”
On his part, Governor Kilonzo embraced the findings and promised to act on the recommendations therein. He also asked the EACC to carry out a current systems audit in the County so that they get to know where they currently stand regarding the issues raised in the 2019 report and how to move forward
The CRA was conducted in line with section 11 (1) (h) and (i) and section 13 (b) of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2011, which empowers the Commission to advise on its own initiative any person on any matter within its functions; monitor the practices and procedures of public bodies to detect corrupt practices and to secure the revision of methods of work or procedures that may be conducive to corrupt practices; and undertake preventive measures against unethical and corrupt conduct.
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