How Sh390 Million was stolen from Tourism fund

janet ndila

March 27, 2017 3:48 PM

The auditor general Edward Ouko is at again after exposing Sh390 Million theft in the Ministry of tourism.

Auditor General Edward Ouko

Ouko has exposed how the Tourism board has been collecting millions of taxes from hotels since 2013 yet there no receipts to indicate the withdrawals.

According to the auditor general, individuals have been withdrawing money from the board without keying the same in the system.

“There is likelihood that revenue collected is deleted from the system and later withdrawn in cash for unauthorised transactions and also possible manipulation of receipt numbers.

“Consequently, it is not possible to ascertain if levy income of Sh2,009,627,284 is fairly stated,” Mr Ouko was quoted by Businessdaily.

Ouko disclosed that the fund was not fully automated making it easier for employees at the agency to siphon funds.

“The system could not also distinguish a late payment with an arrears payment as it applied penalties to both. This meant that levy department has to call back and confirm the payment and manually make corrections,” the Auditor general added.

Mr Ouko has clashed with the Jubilee administration on numerous occasions after exposing mega scandals in different ministries.

The auditor general survived a probe after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko cleared him of corruption allegations which he faced.

Mr Ouko is seen as a thorn in the flesh for President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime because of exposing how tax payers money has been misappropriated.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga at one point threatened to take action if Mr ouko was removed from his position.

janet ndila