Members of Parliament have raised concerns over the alleged misuse of taxpayer funds by the Ministry of Mining’s State Department of Shipping and Maritime Affairs during the Financial Year 2021/22. The issue came to light during a session of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee on August 21, 2024, where Principal Secretary Geoffrey Kaituko was questioned about the department’s expenditures.
Among the expenditures scrutinized was KES 28 million paid as per diems to ministry staff. MPs were particularly alarmed by the revelation that KES 2.1 million was spent on supplying office tea. Soy MP David Kiplagat expressed disbelief at the expense, questioning how such a large amount could be justified for something as trivial as tea.
“We need to know if the head of accounts can differentiate between imprest, claims, and per diems, especially in cases where significant amounts, like KES 2 million, are allocated for questionable purposes such as sending people to look for tea in the streets,” Kiplagat remarked.
The committee’s scrutiny was based on the Auditor General’s report covering the period from June 2021 to June 2022, which highlighted inconsistencies in the ministry’s financial records. According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, there were significant discrepancies in the amounts paid to staff for payment vouchers and per diems. The report raised questions about the legitimacy of some of the payments made by the ministry.
Principal Secretary Kaituko acknowledged the possibility of overpayments and suggested that a more thorough examination of the payment vouchers was necessary.
“Maybe we will need to get the vouchers themselves, not just the samples here. We likely need a week to gather that information and present it to the committee,” he stated.
Butere MP Tindi Mwale, who chaired the session, expressed concerns about the integrity of the samples used to justify the payments, suggesting they were insufficient and potentially fraudulent.
Mwale called for a forensic audit to investigate the errors and close any corruption loopholes. “We need public officers who are more sincere, those who won’t come and defend mistakes that are clearly evident to everyone,” he emphasized.
