Auditor General Edward Ouko ( photo / business daily)
Auditor General Edward Ouko has raised concerns as to whether the Kenya Ports Authority can recover sh3 billion that was deposited four months before the middle sized bank was placed under receivership.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) placed the bank under receivership on April 7, 2016 after the bank failed to account for billions of shillings.
In a qualified report of the ports authority, Mr ouko says it's unclear if KPA can recover the money deposited in the bank since efforts to find an investor to revive the bank have stalled.
“Under the circumstance, it is not possible to confirm recoverability of the short-term deposits totalling to Sh2,957,000,000 invested in Chase Bank as at June 30, 2016,” he said in the report.
KPA has only accessed sh1m of the cash after the bank reopened last year for depositors to withdraw upto 1m shillings.
Parliament had in August last year called upon the anti-corruption agency to investigate former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) managing director Gichiri Ndua the loss of Sh3 billion in the Bank after allegedly disobeying Treasury.
A Treasury circular instructing all State corporations to invest surplus funds in Treasury bills and bonds had been circulated to all state corporations.
Current managing director Catherine Mturi-Wairi, last year told the Public Investment Committee that the failure by the authority to access the close to 3 billion shillings had negative impacts on its projects.