Overcharging of fees, irregular and undisclosed expenditure, non-compliance with law on ethnic balance and lack of documents to support various procurements are among the issues that are currently facing various technical institutions in the country.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, in her report for various institutions, has accused the managers and institution heads of mismanaging the institutions by even failing to set up structures and key offices to manage the facilities.

A scan through about 25 audit reports for technical institutions revealed how some of the facilities have charged fees that were not provided for in the fee structure, have failed to put in place internal audits to monitor how monies are being spent, while others have flouted procurement law.

The institutions in question include Siruti Technical and Vocational College, Awendo, Sirisia Technical and Vocational College, Tharaka Technical and Vocational College, West Mugirango Technical College, Ugenya Technical and Vocational Training and Tigania East Technical and Vocational College.

Siruti Technical and Vocational College in Awendo has been fingered for lack of supporting schedules under the rendering of services.

Duplicate receipts

According to the report, there were no supporting schedules for various vote heads, including industrial attachment fees of Ksh560,401, local transport of Ksh781,612, examination fees of Ksh746,000, tuition of Ksh2 million, student union of Ksh361,311, medical fees of Ksh475,861, development of Ksh140,100 and personal emoluments amounting to Ksh1.3 million.

The institution, has also been flagged for having duplicate student receipt numbers 2410 to 2434, which appeared in the months October and November 2022 for 25 students with different names, having un-recognised revenue for caution fee and student ID as it did not report on revenue collected from caution fees and student lD, which form part of the approved fee structure.

Further, the institute did not adhere to the approved fee structure as it charged students advertising fees of Ksh216,010, which is not part of the approved fee structure.

The report further says that a review of the payment records and vouchers, together with the supporting documentation, revealed that the payments amounting to Ksh853,300 were not supported with evidence of authority to travel, signed attendance sheets, and invitation letters.

“ln the circumstances, the completeness and regularity of the transactions amount of Ksh853,300 could not be confirmed,” the report reads.

In the case of Sirisia, the institution is on the spot over undisclosed expenditure amounting to Ksh518,602, the construction of buildings at a cost of Ksh55.9 million, whose supporting documents, including invoices, parents’ certificates or valuation reports, were not provided for audit review, as well as Ksh155.6 million spent on the acquisition of laptops.

Uncertain accounting

The college, the report says, has not complied with the law on Staff Ethnic diversity as analysis of the payroll and staff list revealed that during the year under review, it had 46 employees, both teaching and non-teaching and on permanent and pensionable and contractual terms out of which 43 employees or 93 per cent were from one ethnic community.

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

For Tharaka, the report raises questions over unsupported fees from students amounting to Ksh19.9 million, as student ledgers and receipt books were not provided for audit review, unsupported procurement of teaching and learning materials and production amounts of Ksh3.3 million and Ksh550 million respectively that have been supported by payment vouchers and ledgers.

The report further raises questions over marketing expenses amounting to Ksh878,500, out of which Ksh467,900 were not supported with requisitions, listing of participants, program of activity, work tickets and payment schedules.

According to the report, the accuracy and completeness of the rendering of service fees from students, amounting to Ksh19,971,425, could not be confirmed.

With regards to compliance with the law on staff ethnic composition, the report says that a review of personnel records revealed that 34, or 49 per cent, of the 69 members of staff of the college staff belonged to one dominant ethnic community.

In the case of Taveta, the institution has unsupported receivables from exchange transactions amounting to Ksh8.1 million, an inaccurate statement of financial performance and inaccurate trade and other payables from exchange transactions amounting to Ksh155,304.

The institution has also been put on the spot over a lack of an effective accounting system, leading to manual recording of transactions, which resulted in inaccuracies and raised concerns about the competency of the institution’s accounting practices.

There was a lack of segregation of duties as the financial records revealed that transactions were neither prepared nor authorised by different officers but were solely signed by the principal, adding that all cash withdrawals for payment of goods and services were made in the principal’s name, without established controls to monitor the handling or use of the funds.

The institution lacks key departments such as procurement, finance and human resources, has no management policies and regulations such as the student admission policy, academic policy and others.

“This is contrary to Regulation 23(1)(c) of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations, 2015, which requires Accounting Officers to be accountable to the National Assembly for maintaining effective systems of internal controls and measures taken to ensure that they are effective. In the circumstances, failure to segregate duties hinders effective and accountable service delivery,” the report reads.

With regards to West Mugirango, the report has fingered the institution for receiving fees in cash without reference to a specific student registration number, making it difficult to reconcile the fee receipts and invoices raised per student.

The institution, which also has no human resource department, has unsupported Receivables from Exchange Transactions of Ksh5 million, adding that a review of the ageing analysis and other records revealed that the college has been unable to collect for over six month,s with the outstanding balance remaining unsettled at the close of the financial year 2021/23 under review.

In addition, the institution has unsupported value of property, plant and equipment amounting to Ksh57.2 million as non-current asset register provided for audit review did not capture important details including asset tagging, serial or log book number, location, opening balances, additions, dates of acquisitions, disposals, depreciation charged, accumulated depreciation to date and net Book value of the assets.

In the case of Ugenya Technical and Vocational College, the report raises concerns over long-standing students’ debtors amounting to Ksh235,830, whose recovery is doubtful.

“However, included in this balance are debtors outstanding for more than one (1) year, amounting to Ksh235,830, whose recoverability remains in doubt. Further, the management has not provided an approved debt collection policy to facilitate effective collection of fees,” the report reveals.

Official invitations

The institution has also been fingered for lacking legal ownership documents for five tractors and two trailers donated by the Government of China through the Ministry of Education.

In Tigania East Technical And Vocational College, the report has raised concerns over unsupported and unaccounted for lmprest of Ksh1.4 million advanced to staff as a review of records revealed that the expenditure was directly expensed in the books of the College without evidence of accountability in the form of approved requisitions, official invitations to attend trainings or meetings, proof of travel, signed attendance list, schedule of events, back to office reports and Electronic Transfer Receipt (ETR) for purchases incurred as justification of activities undertaken.

In addition, the College does not maintain an updated imprest register for temporary or safari imprests issued to staff, which is a weakness that makes it difficult to track the imprest and ensure that the same is promptly surrendered and accounted for, and is a loophole for loss of public funds.

The institution has unsupported board allowances of Ksh321,000, unsupported Cash and Cash Equivalents Balance of Ksh557,088, irregularly recruited staff, as well as irregularly Transferred Funds to the Kenya Association of Technical Training institutions (KATTI).