The Nairobi City County Government under the leadership of Governor Johnson Sakaja has sent a requisition for approval of the County recurrent work plan amounting to Sh 460 million to the Controller of Budget Margret Nyakang’o.
The largely unclear work plan includes finances earmarked to go into the payment of dubious suppliers and lawyers by the county in what is seen as another pinhole created to siphon money from public coffers.
The now all familiar trend places the Nairobi Governor at risk of eroding his trust and confidence from the people of Nairobi following numerous complaints from the public over the management of funds by Sakaja’s administration, which have all but fallen on deaf years.
If the Controller of Budget approves the 460 million recurrent work plan, Sakaja’s government will have the go ahead to put into use the money whose large percentage is planned to offset alleged fictitious pending bills owed to legal advisors to the county for dubious litigation and ghost supplier who have not supplied goods and services to the county.
This is another trick that is being applied by the county treasury where the recurrent work plan sent to the Auditor General’s office contains a intended payments to lawyers and supply of various good which have not been supplied and the procurement process not audited.
Pointed out in the intended payments is the settling of Sh 11 million indicated as supply of detergents which is all but a supply of air since no such procurement has been approved. Documentations, memo from the AIE holder, opening minutes certified and evaluation minutes or rather procurement option are either non-existent or have intentionally not been submitted to the auditor general.
The Sakaja administration has been into all bad books in recent weeks over the alleged hasty release of over 1 billion shillings in payment of alleged fictitious legal fees which was brought forward for payment with just 10 days remaining to the end of the 2022-2023 financial year and another payment of Sh 900 million which was reported to be payment to suppliers for non existent building and road construction materials to the county.
According to insiders, who have over the time spoken to the press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, the county has not received any such construction materials from the said suppliers lined up to receive the millions at any of the county stores and the legal fees being paid to lawyers is for services which remain unclear as to whether were rendered to the county government.
Just last week, Sakaja’s administration sought clearance from the Auditor General to pay the money even as accusations continue being leveled on the governor of abetting the corruption at city hall.
Governor Sakaja has been pinpointed as the mastermind of the fraudulent payments which according to sources are payments for non-existent legal services by lawyers who have not offered any documented services to the county government. Damning reports indicate that the lawyers agreed to a deal to give 50 percent kick backs on the millions of tax payers’ money.
With the trend taking precedence in Sakaja’s administration, public trust continue being eroded even as the Governor keeps a blind eye to the malpractices being done under his nose.
The plot to pay lawyers millions for fictitious Legal claims was hatched in the last one month as the financial year drew to a close when all unutilized funds are by law expected to be returned to the treasury for new allocation in the new financial year which started on 1st July, 2023.
