Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has slammed media reports that Sh1.18 billion is the exact figure that was stolen from the County government.
The ODM governor termed the reports as false, and emphasised that only Sh51 million was missing according to audit reports.
Of the Sh51 million, Kingi said the County government has traced and recovered Sh8 million.
"I have been seeing in newspapers that the County government lost Sh1.18 billion or Sh1.8 billion. That is not correct. Sh1.18 billion is the figure that the audit documents show was allocated for various projects in the County. Of the Sh1.18 billion, only Sh51 billion can not be accounted for,'' said Kingi, Friday evening.
Speaking during an interview on a local television, he said he has been able to track down companies that benefited from the funds with help of the anti-graft agency.
"Sh8 million has so far been recovered and we are following up to ensure the remaining amounts are recovered,'' assured Kingi.
He has so far suspended the County Health Chief Officer Timothy Malingi; Treasury accountant Paul Mwanzo; Health accountant Jacob Konde; Finance accountan John Kalume; Water accountant Vivian Nzai and Education accountant Josephine Muramba, after they were implicated in the scam.
Other suspended officials include Dickson Tembo (Agriculture Clerical officer), Lenox Mwadzoya (Roads inspector); Johnson Nyamawi (Finance accountant) and Health Clerical officer Lilian Hariri.