Under the chairmanship of Homabay Senator Moses Kajwang, the Senate Committee on County Public Accounts (CPAC) convened with the County Assembly of Kericho today. The agenda of the meeting was to scrutinise the Auditor General's report, detailing the Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year of 2019/2020.

During the discussions, a series of significant resolutions were agreed upon.

The first concern was a discrepancy between two payments listed in the cash book and the bank statements. The Management justified this anomaly by stating that the County Assembly lacked a Retention Account during the year in question. This deficiency led to the disputed amounts being rerouted back into the County Revenue Fund.

The Committee upon noting the absence of a Retention Account, the committee advised the Management to create one. In situations where this might not be possible, the committee suggested utilising a manual cashbook to enable precise and prompt reconciliations. To preclude future appearances before the Committee, the Management was further advised to liaise with the Office of the Auditor-General during audit periods, aiming to resolve potential issues and achieve an unqualified audit opinion.

The Committee also voiced its concern regarding the low number of staff accompanying the 48 members of the County Assembly during a trip to review the supplementary budget estimates. It was emphasised that a greater staff presence would have added more value to the engagement, given their key role as the Secretariat and the custodians of the Committee's records.

Subsequently, a formal directive was issued to the Management. They were asked to communicate to the staff about adhering to public finance management statutes and to substantiate this with evidence in the subsequent committee meeting.

It was further noted that the County Assembly had collaborated closely with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to bolster policies and procedural manuals about budgetary controls, performance and compliance. As a result, the Committee recommended that both the EACC and the Office of the Auditor-General examine the practical implementation of these systems and document their observations in the ensuing audit cycle.

In conclusion, the Committee stressed to the Management that, as per section 62 of the Public Audit Act 2015, failing to provide necessary documentation on the use of public funds is a punishable offence. The penalties for such an infringement include a fine of up to five million shillings, a prison sentence not exceeding three years, or both.

Joining Senator Kajwang in the meeting were the members of the Committee, including Vice Chair Senator Samson Cherarkey, Senators Fatuma Dullo, Richard Onyonga, John Methu, Gataya Mo Fire, Mariam Omar and Edwin Sifuna.