This archive report was first published on 11 May 2021.
Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga appeared before the Senate County Public Account and Investment Committee in 2020 to address audit queries over the use of Covid-19 funds.
According to the Auditor General's special audit report, the county spent Sh115 million from the emergency fund, exceeding the initial budget of Sh100 million.
However, Governor Rasanga denied the allegations, stating that the county only spent Sh100 million and not Sh115 million as indicated in the report.
“There may be an error but I can confirm that we did not spend more than Sh100 million. I can confirm that all commitments were charged within the funds. There was no over expenditure,” Rasanga told the committee.
The Auditor General defended the report, citing proof of payment vouchers amounting to Sh115 million.
The committee questioned the conflicting information from the county and AG, with Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina asking, “So where did the Auditor General get the findings if the governor is insisting that the amount used was Sh100 million? Did the report come from the sky?”
The committee chair, Kisumu Senator Fred Outa, demanded that the governor provides proof of expenditure, giving him one week to do so.
Siaya County had appropriated Sh270 million for Covid-19 and related emergencies, with Sh100 million coming from the county emergency fund.
Other funds received by the county include government conditional grants worth Sh97 million, Danida Sh6 million, national government health workers allowance Sh36 million, and Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KSDP) Sh30 million.
Rasanga was also faulted for not spending KSDP and government conditional grants in good time, with the report attributing this to the absence of approved budgets, work plans, and procurement plans.
However, the governor explained that the KSDP funds were used to purchase Covid-19 supplies, with commitment for isolation representing 71 per cent of the funds.
