The governor of Kirinyaga County, Anne Waiguru, has denied the Auditor General’s claim that the county had outstanding debts totaling Ksh1.2 billion.
Waiguru confirmed that the number was erroneous and that her administration will not be paying any bills that were not checked during her appearance before the County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) on Monday, March 17.
Waiguru declared, “We are contesting the official Auditor General’s verification of outstanding bills in Kirinyaga County.”
She stated that the county government was in the process of paying them, but she only claimed to be the owner of Ksh513 million. The remaining Ksh680 million, according to her, is fake and cannot be paid.
The AG’s report stated that Kirinyaga owed Ksh1.2 billion, some of which had been there long before Waiguru assumed control of the county.
The committee’s chair, Senator Moses Kajwang of Homa Bay, had brought attention to this disparity and warned the governor that she might not have paid off debts that had accumulated prior to her appointment.
Senator Kajwang said, “You appear to be current on the bills that have accumulated over your tenure, except for the older ones.”
Waiguru refused to change her position, claiming that the matter had been unresolved for up to eight years, even though she was urged to assume responsibility for the costs.
“We are unable to pay because we are able to confirm the documents and the type of service that was rendered,” she stated.
She went so far as to bring up the issue with the Deputy President-chaired Intergovernmental Budget Economic Council, accusing the Auditor General of exaggerating the amount.
Waiguru cited a number of disparities that were discovered during an internal verification process to support her allegations.
In the four months preceding the 2017 general election, for example, she said, over 200 invoices were raised, but no services were provided. She also pointed out that the majority of the businesses that sent the invoices were sole proprietorships.
Nonetheless, the senators were determined to solve the problem that had lingered for eight years, and they pushed the governor to contact the Auditor General to resolve the situation as it was her duty.
In order to support her stance and avoid any legal action, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna suggested that she ask her Executive Committee to adopt a resolution stating that certain measures were inadmissible. She vowed to do so.
