Tana River Paid Catering Firm KSh 2.3m For New Year Celebrations

• The report captured how counties irregularly and illegally spent taxpayers' money and what needed to be corrected
• The report showed that the Tana River county government paid a catering company KSh 2.3 million for New Year celebrations
• According to the auditor general, the tender's and contract's documents were not provided for auditing

The auditor general's report for the financial year 2022-2023 exposed irregular and illegal expenditures by county governments.

Auditor general's report on counties

Last week, TUKO.co.ke covered how Nairobi County owed 11 law firms KSh 10.7 billion, which was more than its revenue.

In Tana River, the auditor general's report flagged the county for unsupported payments on rentals of produced assets.

The county spent a total of KSh 23,936,745 on payments for goods and services related to renting produced assets.

How much did Tana River spend on New Year celebrations?

The report indicated that, "Out of this amount, payments amounting to KSh 2,300,000 were made to a firm providing catering services for the New Year celebration."

The audit report raised concern that documentation for tendering and payment of the services procured was not produced for auditing, leaving the question of value for money unanswered.

"However, the contract and tender documents, such as the appointment letters of tender opening and evaluation committees, floated quotations, minutes of the tender opening, evaluation reports, notification of award, acceptance letter, notification to unsuccessful bidders, and signed professional opinion, were not provided for audit," the report continued.

Tana River county's expenditure on foreign travel

The county was also put on the spot for paying a car hire services company KSh 2,400,000 to cover three months of service provision.

"However, the tender opening minutes were not signed, and only one member signed the evaluation reports. In addition, the signed contract did not indicate the expected start and end dates, and no documentary evidence was provided to show that the accounting officer reported the contracts awarded to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority," added the report.

The report indicated that the county spent KSh 57,714,353 on foreign travel and subsistence.

Out of this amount, payments worth KSh 7,978,037 were not supported with back-to-office reports.

The challenge of unwarranted expenditure on foreign travel is not only rife in counties. President William Ruto has been under fire over expenditures on foreign travel.

Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke