A report by the Auditor General has revealed that the Office of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua purchased curtains worth Ksh10.27 million last year.
The Auditor General disclosed the figures in an accountability report on spending of public funds in the national government for the year ended June 2023.
According to the report, the deputy president’s office spent another sum of Ksh7.86 million on furniture.
“During the year under review, the Office procured curtains and furniture amounting to Kshs.10,272,524 and Kshs.7,869,700 respectively all totaling Kshs.18,142,224 through request for quotations thereby splitting the procurement,” read part of the report.
The Auditor General flagged the spending as a procurement irregularity saying that it was contrary to Section 54 (1) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
This Act requires that no procuring entity may structure procurement as two or more procurements for the purpose of avoiding the use of a procurement procedure except where prescribed.
DP Gachagua office flagged
Further, the report flagged a Direct Procurement irregularity at DP Gachagua’s office where the management procured furniture amounting to Kshs.2,401,000 from one supplier using direct procurement.
“This was contrary to provisions of Section 103(2) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 which provides that an entity may use direct procurement if the goods are available from a particular supplier or a particular supplier has exclusive rights in respect of the goods and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists,” the report adds.
Also Read: Ruto Pressured to Declare How Much His Govt Steals Daily
Meanwhile, the Auditor general report also flagged irregularities within the financial statements of the Executive Office of the President.
In the report, a review of financial statements flagged an irregular procurement of Street Lights amounting to a Kshs.66,576,000 payment made to a contractor.
The payment was made for supply and installation of bulbs along the Nairobi-Thika Superhighway.
According to the report, the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) used a term contract between Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and an electricals Company in the procurement of 150/180W lights.
Additionally, a requisition was made in June 2020 for 2,000 bulbs at a cost of Kshs.29,200 each as indicated in the contract obtained from KeNHA.
However, NMS received 2,000 pcs at a unit cost of Kshs.33,288 resulting to a price difference of Kshs.4,088 each leading to an overpayment of Kshs.8,176,000.
Foreign travels
Also, data from the latest report from the Controller of Budget (COB) indicates that the executive office of the Deputy President spent Ksh111 million and Ksh184 million in foreign and domestic travel respectively.
This expenditure was much higher compared to the Ksh265 million and KSh295 million recorded in the first half of the 21/22 and 22/23 financial years.
According to the COB Margaret Nyakang’o this expenditure represented seven per cent of the entire government’s travel budget for the half year under review.
Also Read: Ruto’s Foreign Trip Pays Off as Multimillion Global Academy Opens in Kenya
This disclosure came on the backdrop of President William Ruto‘s push for austerity measures to cushion taxpayers.
During his State of the Nation address in November 2023, the head of state said the government and public officers would cut unnecessary expenditure.
He retaliated that this would be part of the measures to reign in the yawning budget deficit and reduce borrowing.
“We must admit that as a country, we had been living large and way beyond our means.
“The time has come, therefore, to retire the false comforts and illusory benefits of wasteful expenditure, and counterproductive subsidies on consumption by which we dug ourselves deeper into the hole of avoidable debt,” he said.
Ruto has been called out for making close to 50 foreign trips since he became president.
