Kitui Governor Julius Malombe faced a gruelling session before the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee as lawmakers demanded answers for systemic audit failures across major county hospitals.

The inquiry, centred on the Auditor General’s 2024/2025 reports for Kitui Referral, Mwingi Level 4, and the Tseikuru, Mutomo, and Ikanga hospitals, turned tense over the irregular engagement of casual workers. 

Committee Chair Senator Godfrey Osotsi warned that "engagement of casual workers is the most abused process," demanding exact numbers to rule out "ghost workers."

Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua joined the fray, criticizing the exploitative nature of long-term casual contracts. "Why overwork them for peanuts? If there is a need, employ them permanently," Wambua demanded. "True casual engagement is daily pay for daily work, not the three-month stretches captured here."

Governor Malombe defended the practice as a crisis response to industrial strikes by doctors and nurses. "We engaged them to ensure patients did not suffer," the Governor explained. "To correct this, we have developed the Kitui County Temporary Workers Engagement Policy 2025, which currently awaits Assembly approval".

The most heated exchange involved Tseikuru Sub-County Hospital, which operates without a legally constituted Board of Management. Consequently, the facility’s financial statements were submitted to the Auditor General without the mandatory signature of a Board Chairperson.

Governor Malombe noted that while a new board was gazetted on May 25, 2025, the previous team had continued to sit quarterly to oversee affairs. This explanation drew sharp rebukes from the committee.

"Governor, this is a blatant violation of the law," Senator Osotsi declared. "How can an illegal board sit, run affairs, and presumably draw allowances?"

Senator Enoch Wambua was equally scathing: "A board sitting past its term is ridiculous. Or, Governor, is Kitui County a place where anyone can just walk into an office and start working?"

The Senate also questioned why an ultrasound machine at Tseikuru, donated by USAID in 2020, has remained idle for years. The Governor confirmed the machine was unutilized due to the lack of a radiology department and specialized staff. Management reported that a radiology block is now complete and the county has advertised for three radiographers to finally operationalize the equipment.

Regarding expired medical supplies, some of which have been in stores since 2020, the county cited short-dated COVID-19 donations as a primary cause. Senator George Mbugua sought to know the value of these expired supplies, but the Governor requested more time for a full valuation. To address this, the Governor told the Committee that the county has mopped up the commodities and plans to destroy them once the installation of a new incinerator is complete.