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Nairobi County was put on the spot by the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o after billions reportedly vanished mysteriously from its bank accounts.
Appearing on Citizen TV’s Daybreak Show, Nyakong’o revealed that the county was operating multiple bank accounts.
She argued that money, estimated to amount to over Ksh18 billion, was supposed to be used to clear pending bills but according to the controller of the budget, that was never the case.
“We found Nairobi County has numerous bank accounts which receive revenue but never gets to the County Revenue Fund (CRF) as intended by the law.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o during a past interview.
Daily Nation
“For instance, we did find that liquor licencing fee has its own bank account which never gets to the CRF and it is one of the highest paying sources of revenue,” she revealed.
While exposing the rot in the county administration, Nyakang’o revealed that Nairobi registered only Ksh2.6 billion in revenue collection for half a year.
“If Nairobi collects Ksh5 billion in a year, it means it does not even make 30 per cent of the Ksh18 billion target revenue,” she explained.
The controller of the budget explained that Nairobi was collecting the target Ksh18 billion but the money was not being accounted for.
“We do believe that Nairobi can collect even a lot more than the Ksh18 billion, the money is collected but where it goes to is anyone’s guess,” she remarked.
Nyakong’o further revealed how counties were using pending bills as a loophole for looting by never paying the intended suppliers but channeling the money through their own conduits.
“Governors are substituting who get paid. We have a system where a county prepares a schedule and bring to my office the suppliers who need to get paid.
“Unfortunately, the intended suppliers never get paid. Instead, once the money is in CRF, they pay other people different from what had been requisitioned,” she exposed the scam.
To tame that, the controller of budget revealed that she needed to have access to the county’s bank accounts as well as have all systems automated for easier monitoring.
On January 16, Sakaja formed a committee to verify the legitimacy of various tenders awarded by the former administrations in a bid to streamline the pending bills payment process.
The committee was tasked with making a recommendation to the Governor by April 2023, on which pending bills should be settled.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko (left) with Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja (right) during a past event.
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