A new report released by Ethics and anti-corruption commission (EACC) reveals that Nakuru County Executive lacks governance instruments and corruption prevention frameworks.
The report which is a culmination of corruption risk assessment carried out between June 26-August 2017 recommends a need for revenue mapping as far as financial management is concerned at the county level with the formation of an internal audit committee.
EACC received 371 reports touching on Nakuru county government, 168 of which were received in 2017,172 in 2016 and 131 in 2015.
The majority of the reports were on bribery, procurement irregularities, fraudulent acquisition and disposal of public property and abuse of office among others.
Speaking on Monday during the presentation of the report to the county government of Nakuru, EACC Chair Dr. Eliud Wabukala called on the county government to work closely with the assembly and EACC in ensuring corruption cases are dealt with through right mechanisms in place.
“The Nakuru county new leadership should work in partnership to ensure the report is implemented and to avoid a repeat of the mistakes of the past regime. Corruption is a matter for all of us to take responsibility to seal all the loopholes,” he said.
Dr.Wabukala said leaders should protect public resources so as to benefit Kenyans.
Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, who officially received the report, aid it will be implemented.
“I want to assure the public that we welcome the report and we shall do all we can to ensure that it is implemented. I call upon all the stakeholders to come together to ensure successful implementation,“ he said.
Nakuru Deputy Governor Dr. Erick Korir hailed the report.
“The report comes at a time when we are starting as the second government of Nakuru county and it is my prayer that we shall learn and not repeat the same mistakes as the former government,” said Dr.Korir.
The EACC through the report recommends strict adherence to the procurement rules and regulations to ensure eligibility of contractors.
The report further cites instances where the law was not followed as far as human resource management is concerned.
“In Human Resource Management, it was noted that payroll reconciliations are not undertaken and casuals are regularly engaged. In the case of payroll reconciliations anomalies, it was noted for instance that in November 2016, the total wage bill was Sh364, 009,281.58 whereas in December of the same year the wage bill amounted toSh294 846, 364.99 hence a huge difference Sh69, 162,916.59 which was not reconciled to determine the cause of the variance,” read part of the report.
Nakuru county is expected to submit an implementation plan to the commission within a period of one month after receiving the report.