The County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) has directed Vihiga Governor Wilbur Ottichilo to surcharge accounting officers over Sh1.9 million advanced to county staff as salary loans between 2015 and 2017 but never recovered.

The directive followed a revelation in the Auditor-General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year, which shows that only Sh85,000 of the amount had been repaid.

According to the report, the beneficiaries included four former county executive staff, one current staff member, one deceased former staff member, three current Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), and one former MCA.

The Committee expressed outrage over the poor recovery record and demanded immediate action from the Governor.

In his defence, Governor Ottichilo told the Committee that recovery efforts had been hampered by the loss of primary records after a building housing financial documents was gutted by a mysterious fire.

He further claimed that some beneficiaries had denied receiving the loans and demanded proof from the county.

“The County Attorney wrote to the individuals, and they responded by demanding evidence from the county that they had borrowed the money,” the Governor said.

Senator Okong’o Omogeni questioned whether the officers who approved the payments were still serving in the county government and what action had been taken against them.

He also faulted the County Attorney for failing to initiate recovery efforts for nearly a decade, raising concerns that the matter may now be time-barred under the Limitation of Actions Act.

“Why was there such a long delay in recovering the money?” Senator Omogeni asked, questioning whether the failure amounted to negligence.

Senator Johnes Mwaruma argued that the destruction of records could not excuse non-recovery, noting that the funds were disbursed directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts.

However, the Committee was informed that legal recovery through the courts was no longer possible due to statutory time limitations.

“You are engaged in a futile exercise because seeking court action will not yield the desired results,” said Senator Samson Cherarkey.

Citing the Public Finance Management Act, the Committee noted that responsibility rests with accounting officers who authorized the expenditure.

Senator Moses Kajwang’ said that while court action was no longer viable, public finance laws provide for surcharging officers who advance public funds and fail to recover them.

“The answer lies in the public finance regulations,” Senator Kajwang’ said. “The accounting officers who approved these advances must be surcharged for failing to recover the money.”

The Committee further directed the Governor to take administrative action against officers who unlawfully authorized the release of Sh5 million to finance a housewarming party at the residence of the County Assembly Speaker.

At a meeting with the Vihiga County Executive on Monday, the Committee was stunned by revelations that the county executive had loaned the funds to the County Assembly despite severe financial constraints.

CPAC described the expenditure as immoral and unjustified, noting that Vihiga County’s pending bills had ballooned to Sh1.7 billion as of June 30, 2025.

“There was absolutely no justification for the housewarming or the Sh5 million expenditure,” Senator Kajwang’ said while grilling the Governor on the county’s financial statements.

He directed the Governor to take disciplinary action and, if necessary, recover the funds.

“You must go back and deal with this illegality. If need be, recover the money,” he said.

Governor Ottichilo told the Committee he had already noted the anomaly and intended to take action after consulting the Committee.

“I had planned to take action, but I decided to first listen to the views of the Committee,” he said.

While he maintained that he could not account for how the County Assembly spent the money, the Governor claimed that part of the funds had been used to facilitate activities during the Speaker’s house-opening ceremony.

However, the Committee dismissed the explanation, citing the expenditure descriptions contained in the county’s financial statements.