The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has come out to defend the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o amidst her standoff with the Council of Governors over corruption allegations in the counties.
The commission faulted the Governors for dismissing Nyakang’o’s concerns of counties operating multiple bank accounts to aide in theft of funds and abetting graft.
Addressing journalists in Mwingi, Kitui County on Friday, the commission’s Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi criticized the Governors’ response to the audit findings, urging them to accept accountability and focus on addressing the irregularities pointed out by the CoB rather than dismissing oversight efforts.
‘Accept accountability!’ EACC slams Governors for dismissing Controller of Budget’s report
Joseph Muia
By Joseph Muia
Published on: December 07, 2024 11:08 (EAT)
‘Accept accountability!’ EACC slams Governors for dismissing Controller of Budget’s report
File image of the EACC headquarters at Integrity Centre in Nairobi.
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By Joseph Muia,Dec 7th 2024 11:08 AM
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The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has come out to defend the Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o amidst her standoff with the Council of Governors over corruption allegations in the counties.
The commission faulted the Governors for dismissing Nyakang’o’s concerns of counties operating multiple bank accounts to aide in theft of funds and abetting graft.
Addressing journalists in Mwingi, Kitui County on Friday, the commission’s Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi criticized the Governors’ response to the audit findings, urging them to accept accountability and focus on addressing the irregularities pointed out by the CoB rather than dismissing oversight efforts.
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“As the EACC continues to discharge its mandate in the protection of public funds, the commission urges Governors to begin to recognize theft of public funds as an existential threat to devolution, and to individually and collectively implement accountability measures as routinely advised by oversight bodies,” he said.
“This includes implementation of the various EACC reports with key reform recommendations from the Corruption Risk Assessment undertaken in 28 counties so far, which the Governors have not implemented.”
Ngumbi reiterated that the maintenance of such a huge number of bank accounts is one of the indicators of theft of public funds which some Governors are presiding over in betrayal of public trust, even as they agitate for allocation of more money to the counties.
The Controller of Budget had raised a red flag through her report detailing corruption schemes in the counties where she revealed that some Governors were operating more than 300 bank accounts to cover up theft in the devolved units.
Ten counties in the report including Nairobi, Kajiado, Baringo, Lamu, Uasin Gishu and West Pokot counties were also flagged for spending zero shillings on development during the same period.
The Governors, through CoG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, later trashed the report terming it “sensational and misleading” to the public.
Governor Abdullahi also downplayed concerns by Nyakang’o of some counties not spending a penny on development, reiterating that the National Treasury had not disbursed funds on time for the Financial Year in question.
“You cannot spend that which you do not have. This has caused a misleading impression and unwarranted agitation among the members of the public and the media to the detriment of the County Governors and their governments,” he stated.
“The Controller of Budget has continued to scandalize counties while she is aware of the challenges with delayed release of funds, most of which are orchestrated by her office. We condemn the unwarranted and unprofessional behaviour on the part of the Controller of Budget in the strongest terms possible. This is a facilitative office that must live up to, and respect its mandate.”
Dr. Nyakang’o has since stood by her remarks maintaining that the information in the first quarterly report emanated from the counties.
“Each of those figures have been verified thoroughly to ensure that the point we are reporting, granted every once in a while we may have a typographical error, that is as far as it goes…we report factual figures as confirmed by the counties and IFMIS,” she said in an exclusive interview with Citizen TV on Friday.
By Citizen Digital