Bungoma County Assembly Speaker Hon. Emmanuel Mukhebi Situma and the County Assembly Clerk Charles W. Wafula are on the radar of Kenya’s investigating agencies over claims of misappropriation of public funds.
Investigations reveal that the Assembly, acting on instructions from both the Speaker and Clerk approved the payment of Ksh. 2,098,826 for fuel, oil and lubricants. It has been discovered that Ksh. 1,950,000 was paid to a supplier for fuel consumed by six (6) County Assembly official vehicles using fuel cards. However, the transaction reports reflected in the invoice revealed that the actual fuel, oil and lubricants consumed were worth Ksh. 1,714,048. The management of the County Assembly failed to explain the reasons for the overpayment of Ksh. 235,952, In the circumstances, the accuracy of the reported expenditure of Ksh. 2,098,826 for fuel, oil and lubricants could not be confirmed.
Investigations further reveal that Ksh. 7.5m was paid to a law firm for the provision of legal services. The firm had been engaged to represent the County Assembly in a Court case, at a total agreed legal fee of Ksh. 18.4m. However, it was not clear how the law firm was identified as the firm was not on the list of firms registered under Section 71 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 to provide legal services to the County Assembly.