Nairobi Governor Johson Sakaja sat on the hot seat during his appearance before the Senate Committee on County Public Investments and Special Funds to answer questions on recently exposed irregular payments in the county.
The committee scrutinized the Auditor-General’s reports on the county’s financial statements for the years ending on 30th June 2020, 30th June 2021, and 30th June 2022.
In the report published by the Auditor General, it was revealed that twenty-six officers receiving a monthly gross pay also received other allowances totaling Ksh17.5 million including rental, house supplementation, and service gratuity among others.
The OAG also flagged the payment of some 393 officers whose PAYE was not recovered from their salaries as required under the Income Tax Act.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja. PHOTO/ Johnson Sakaja
According to the report, the employees were not defined under the category of People with Disabilities but ended up earning Ksh52,580,701 from which no taxes were recovered.
“A total of 393 officers whose PAYE was not recovered from their salaries as required under the Income Tax Act. These employees were not defined under the category of People with Disabilities. The officers earned a total of Ksh52,580,701 from which no taxes were recovered,” the report read.
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Report Reveals Irregular Payments
The analysis also showed that 395 officers were paid salary arrears for a duration between 7 and 12 months during the year under review.
Further, sixty-four (64) officers were paid arrears ranging between Kshs300,000 and Kshs6,779,220 all totaling Kshs.82,340,479 during the financial year.
However, the nature of the allowances totaling over Ksh100 million could not be determined.
It was further reported that a total of thirty-four (34) employees whose job group were above J received a total of Kshs2,728,003 in the form of overtime allowances contrary to the provisions of the Human Resource Policies and Procedures Manual for the Public Service, 2016.
Furthermore, the payroll showed that 252 employees were earning net salaries that were less than a third (1/3) of their basic pay.
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Sakaja Underpaying Employees
Other significant issues raised by the Auditor-General included discrepancies in the Nairobi County Alcoholic Drinks Control and Licensing Board which was flagged over failure to submit financial statements for several prior years and late submissions in other instances.
In light of the findings, the Senate Committee announced that it will raise the matter of the conduct of the involved accountants with the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
“Further, we hereby direct the secretariat to write a letter to ICPAK informing them of the Committee’s resolution,” Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi- the committee’s chairperson said.
Osotsi added that the Committee would also request the DCI and EACC to expedite their ongoing investigations and report on their findings.
