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Lawmakers yesterday gave Auditor General Nancy Gathungu 30 days to conduct a forensic audit of the Sh15 billion fertiliser subsidy programme following claims of corruption and money laundering.

The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired by Nominated MP John Mbadi (pictured) ordered Gathungu to provide comprehensive details of how the Ministry of Agriculture headed by Mithika Linturi spent the said money that was meant to provide farmers with cheap fertiliser.

They said the money was provided for in the supplementary estimates approved by the National Assembly in March.

Addressing a news conference yesterday, Mbadi said they had established that the process of identifying  fertiliser suppliers has been rocked by unprecedented pilferages.

He said that as a committee, they will be coming up with the Terms of Reference for the audit which Gathungu will use as the basis for the probe.

Said Mbadi: “There are highchances that there could be cases of  money laundering; there could be illicit money transfers as we have seen that a lot of issues are coming out in the open about this matter,” Mbadi said.

His sentiment comes at a time when the Kenya Kwanza government has been distributing cheap fertiliser to farmers which has been retailing at between Sh2,500 and Sh 3,000.

During his inauguration at Kasarani Stadium President William Ruto promised to avail 1.4 million bags of fertilizer, a move that saw the Ministry of Agriculture on September 20, release Sh3.5 billion to cushion farmers against the high cost of fertiliser in the country.

Ruto has made it clear that his government will not offer subsidies for consumer goods such as maize flour but will only support the production of such crops.

And yesterday, accompanied by other committee members, Mbadi said the decision to order for the audit came after Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera introduced the matter before plenary which was seconded by Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo and later supported by the committee members.

Possible corruption

According to him as a committee, although they are currently probing various audit issues including historical matters, they will not shy away from investigating topical issues that are affecting ordinary Kenyans.

 “When we started our work in February, we concentrated on various matters of accountability focusing on historical issues but even with that we said we will not close our eyes to emerging cases of possible corruption happening in government and the  latest report is that the money that this Parliament voted or in the supplementary budget for the acquisition of subsidies fertilizer, is that there is a possibility of embezzlement, fraudulent activities having taken place in the process of procurement of the same,” Mbadi said.