Bomet Governor Barchok appears before Senate committee over audit queries
By Emmanuel Rono, March 24, 2026Bomet Governor Hilary Barchok faced a gruelling session at Bunge Tower as the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee demanded answers over a string of audit queries and questionable internal borrowing practices.
According to a Parliament of Kenya report on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, the scrutiny follows a series of qualified audit opinions for the 2024/2025 financial year, specifically targeting the county’s Bursary, Education Revolving, and Climate Change Funds.
“Bomet Governor Hilary Barchok and his executive team appeared before the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee to address audit queries for the 2024/2025 financial year. The session scrutinised several entities, including the Bursary, Education Revolving, and Climate Change Funds, most of which received qualified audit opinions,” the statement read.
The committee, led by Sessional Chair Senator William Kisang, expressed frustration that basic financial errors were being brought before the Senate rather than being resolved during the initial audit process.
“Management should ensure that all financial statement errors are corrected at the time of audit,” Senator Kisang noted, emphasising the need for stricter administrative discipline.
Senator George Mbugua expressed concern over the escalation of these queries.
“These issues should have been addressed at the exit meeting with auditors and not escalated to a Senate level,” Mbugua noted.
A major point of contention was the Education Revolving Fund’s unsupported bank balance of Ksh 4.3 million.
Governor Barchok responded that the bank account is under the control of HELB, noting that while the County dispenses funds, the Board manages administration.
Regarding the Climate Change Fund’s 62% underfunding, Barchok attributed the shortfall to the late passage of the county’s additional allocation Act, which he said resulted in the late disbursement of funds from donors.
The committee also challenged an irregular Ksh 5.05 million internal borrowing from the Car Loan Scheme to the County Executive. While the Governor described this as a move to address temporary cash flow needs, Senator Agnes Kavindu warned against systemic lapses:
“This is something we are going to be very tough on because this keeps on recurring,” Kavindu stated.
Governor Barchok committed to recovering the borrowed funds by June 2026 and restating financial records to resolve the audit variances in the subsequent cycle.