About 12 counties have outstanding imprests amounting to Sh229.4 million, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has revealed.

In her report for the financial year 2023/2024, Gathungu regretted that the monies include amounts held by officers with multiple imprests contrary to Regulation 93(5) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.

The regulation stipulates that a holder of a temporary imprests shall account or surrender the imprests within seven working days after returning to the duty station. And Regulation 93(8) requires the accounting officers to Incur Expenditure (AIE) Holders to ensure that no additional imprests is issued to any officer before the first imprests is surrendered or recovered in full, from the holders’ salary.

Further, the audit revealed that Sh28.6 million consists of an amount of Sh18.3 million and  Sh10.3 million from Kakamega and Nyandarua Counties which were not recorded in imprests registers.

Reads the report: “The County Executives failed to maintain an imprests register indicating details of the payee, amount issued, imprests warrant numbers, dates of issue, due dates and dates of surrender contrary to Regulation 93(4) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015 which requires that upon issuance of imprests, the details of the applicants should be recorded in an imprests register.”

Lack accuracy

Out of the Sh229.4 million, Sh85 million relates to Turkana County, Sh39.3 million to Samburu, Sh25.8 million Mombasa, Sh21.6 million Bungoma, Sh19.8 million Tana River, Sh12.8 million Embu, Sh6.3 million Siaya, Sh6.3 million Nandi, Sh5.1 million Kisumu, Sh3 million Nyandarua, Sh1.3 million Busia and Sh801,440 Kiambu.

Apart from imprests, the other issues that Gathungu has raised issues include non-compliance with the law with regards to management of public resources.

This, the report says has resulted in lack of comprehensiveness, completeness, accuracy and reliability on some of the financial statements submitted for audit.

Reads the report: “The complex modern environment demands greater accountability, transparency, and effective governance as envisaged in Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Effective governance requires structures that respond to the needs of the citizens and enhance compliance with the laws and regulations governing prudent public financial management, which the County Executives are urged to adhere to.”

According to the report some of the issues include non-compliance with fiscal responsibility principles on wage bill, non-adherence to one-third basic salary requirement, non-compliance with the 30 percent staff ethnic composition as well as non-compliance with 30 percent ethnic diversity requirement in new appointments.

With regards to non-adherence to one-third basic salary requirement, the report says that a review of the County Executives’ payrolls for the year ended 30 June, 2024, revealed that in 38 County Executives, more than 22,893 employees received net salaries which were less than a third of their respective basic pay.

This, the report says is a sharp increase from the previous financial year which recorded 10,518 employees.

Although the management attributed the situation to the introduction of the new deductions under the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Housing Levy, the report says that this is contrary to Section 19(3) of the Employment Act, 2007 which states, inter alia, that the total amount of deductions that an employer may make from the wages of his employee at any one time, shall not exceed two-thirds of such wages or such additional or other amount as may be prescribed by the Minister either generally or in relation to a specified employer or employee.

With regards to -Compliance with the 30 percent staff Ethnic Composition, the report says that 33 counties had more than one-third of their staff from the same ethnic community.

Highest non-compliance

The counties with the highest non-compliance include Nyandarua County Executive at 96 percent, Elgeyo/Marakwet County Executive at 95 percent while Kisii, Nyamira, Nandi, Kericho and Nyeri County had 94 percent of their staff from the dominant community in the county.

Reads the report: “This is contrary to Section 7(2) of the National Cohesion and Integration Act, 2008 which requires that no public establishment shall have more than one-third of its staff from the same ethnic community.”

With regards to compliance with 30 per cent ethnic diversity requirement in new appointments, the report shows that 13 counties failed to comply with the requirements of Section 65(1)(e) of the County Governments Act, 2012 while with regards to compliance with Fiscal Responsibility Principles on Wage Bill, the report shows that forty counties had a wage bill greater than 35 percent of the total revenue.

Top on the list was Kisii County whose wage bill is 68 percent of the total revenue followed by Taita/Taveta County Executive whose wage bill was 66 percent of the total revenue.

This was contrary to Regulation 25(1)(b) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015 which states that the County Government’s expenditure on wages and benefits for its public officers shall not exceed 35 percent of the County Government’s total revenue.