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Almost two years after the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, county governments are still struggling to account for how they spent hundreds of millions of shillings meant for combating effects of the virus.

In Kitui, for instance, investigations by the Senate committee on Health as well as the County Assembly ad hoc committee on Covid-19 management and prevention that were carried out in 2020, have revealed that rogue county government officers might have used their strategic positions to benefit from the funds, much to the disadvantage of the residents.

Details captured in both reports seen by People Daily indicate that most of the Sh500 million allocated for intervention measures against the pandemic were not utilised for the intended objective. The reports reveal an intricate web of procurement anomalies that was characterised by lack of documentation.

Additionally, the reports have revealed how the funds that were meant to be utilised by the county department of health were diverted to four other departments and where activities that were not in line with Covid-19 were undertaken, such as procurement of mango juice and tomato paste production equipment that gobbled up Sh22 million.

Out of the pandemic funds received in the county, the department of health received a total of Sh266 million while the department of education, ICT and youth development received the second biggest allocation of Sh62 million.

The third largest beneficiary was the department of trade, cooperatives and investment (Sh55 million( while the department of agriculture, water and irrigation got Sh45 million.

However, it is the questionable expenditure of the funds that raised eyebrows with both the Senate and the County Assembly committees, who unanymously agreed the funds were misused.

While recommending that action be taken against the then county executives (county ministers) in charge of health and finance as well as the chief officer for finance, the Senate committee chaired by Michael Mbito observed that the county did not have a consolidated approved work plan and procurement plan on how to carry out the Covid-19 intervention activities.

Instead, the committee said the four departments that received the funds had to come up with own activities, thus opening the funds to embezzlement.

“The governor confirmed the funds were shared across various departments contrary to the Ministry of Health framework and contrary to the guidelines on the use of Covid-19 funds,” the Senate team’s report that also investigated 27 other county governments states, further recommending the full amounts be refunded to the county health department.

The committee further fingered out two private companies for failing to provide procurement documents for a Sh40 million tender awarded by the county government to set up a 300 bed-capacity isolation centre for Covid-19 patients. At the time of the audit, the committee noted that there was no evidence to show the existence of the centre.

“The audit could not confirm delivery of 100 standard metallic beds by M/S Double Double Construction Company and delivery of 300 metallic bedside lockers by M/S Abbish Investments since there was no documentation to support the delivery,” the report states.

“As such the county has not established the required 300 bed capacity isolation centre as required by the ministry of health framework,” the report concluded.

These details have been corroborated by the 15-member county assembly adhoc committee on Covid-19 management and prevention chaired by the then Kyuso Ward MCA Stephen Musili.

In its report, the committee states that despite inviting the four chief officers in the respective county departments, they failed to provide sufficient documents to show how they spent the allocated funds. The missing documents were local service orders (LSOs), delivery notes, invoices and payment acknowledgement receipts.

The department of health was accused of violating Covid-19 requirements for the utilization of the funds and squandering its allocation in activities that were not related to the set goals. For instance, it was noted that the department used part of its allocation to fund Kitui Pharm Industries, an entity that was operating without legal framework.

The department also procured facemasks from outside the county yet the same were being produced by a county government run garment factory.

While on a visit to various health facilities across the county, the committee established that healthcare workers lacked Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and there was lack of thermo guns as well as hand washing points and sanitizers.