Details of a secret multi-million budget used by Kenya's President Uhuru and his deputy revealed

david nganga

December 7, 2017 12:01 PM

Uhuru, Ruto have been using a confidential account for the past 3 years.

Details of a secret multi-million budget used by the Office of the President and his deputy, William Ruto have been brought to the fore by Auditor General Edward Ouko.

According to Mr. Ouko, the Presidency — which comprises the offices of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto —spent more than Sh2.7 billion over the past three years from a little known account used by the office for the past three years.

The office spent Sh685.7 million in their first year in office that ended June 2014, Sh937.5 million (2015) and Sh1.1 billion (2016) from the confidential account.

Mr. Ouko noted that it was difficult to judge whether the spending was lawful since the account was surrounded by weak controls, including a lack of documentation to support expenditure.

The chief government auditor hinted towards fraudulent dealings citing failure by the office to capture all payments in the government e-payments system labelled the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS).

“Further, verification of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) shows that these payments were not posted in the IFMIS ledger, an indication that they could have been unexplained cash withdrawals,” Mr Ouko said in a qualified audit opinion of the financial statements of the Presidency for the year to June 2016.

A payment of Sh165.5 million to suppliers of motor vehicles was one of the items that could not be traced in the IFMIS ledger.

The auditor questioned Sh22,324,851 payments for goods meant for State Houses and Lodges that were not delivered.

The report comes just days after the Office of the Controller of Budget revealed that the Presidency splashed billions of shillings on hospitality.

The office spent a whooping Sh1.73 billion ($16m) on hospitality in the 2016/17 fiscal year compared to 1.41 billion ($13m) during in 2015/16 fiscal year.

david nganga