By Eddah Waithaka
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has called for the impeachment of Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja, accusing him of gross misconduct and financial mismanagement.
Babu’s demand comes hot on the heels of a damning audit report by the Auditor General’s office, which painted a picture of financial irregularities in the county.
- Speaking to journalists on Friday 5 April, the Member of Parliament for Embakasi highlighted a number of worrying findings from the audit report for the year ending June 2023.
These findings included glaring anomalies in asset acquisition, ghost workers, outstanding invoices, suspicious bank accounts and unaccounted payments running into billions of shillings.
In his State of the County address the day before, Governor Sakaja painted a rosy picture of Nairobi’s future, envisioning a city of order, dignity, hope and opportunity. “We have lived up to this standard,” Sakaja said, referring to an end to corruption and nepotism. However, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s report tells a different story.
It reveals overspending, questionable payments and suspicious acquisition of assets under Governor Sakaja’s administration. Irregular payments totalling Ksh17 million to 26 county employees, including basic salaries, rent, house allowances and gratuities, were flagged by the audit.
The report also highlighted the failure to deduct PAYE from the salaries of 393 officers, as required by law, as well as instances where employees received net salaries of less than a third of their basic salary, contrary to established human resources policy.
Among the damning revelations was the violation of the Disability Act of 2003, with only 167 out of 13,354 county employees classified as disabled, well below the recommended level of 5 per cent.
In her report, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu expressed dissatisfaction with the Nairobi County Executive’s accounts, saying they did not accurately reflect the county’s financial position as at 30 June 2023.
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“There is serious theft of funds in Nairobi County. There is serious theft of the hard-earned money of Nairobians and there is serious misrepresentation of funds,” Babu Owino lamented.
The audit also revealed discrepancies in financial statements, inaccuracies in outstanding accounts and liabilities, and unsupported supplies and services. In addition, Governor Sakaja’s failure to appear before the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee to answer questions raised by the Auditor General has drawn criticism.
Babu Owino has called on the members of the County Assembly to take decisive action to safeguard public funds and ensure accountability in Nairobi County.
