Embu: The County Government of Embu has been ordered to recover Sh10.1 million from the officer who unlawfully authorised the withdrawal from the County Industrial and Aggregation Park (CAIP) account.

According to Kenya News Agency, the County Assembly Public Accounts Committee directed the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Finance, Prof. Joe Kamaria, to also furnish the assembly with evidence of recovery within 90 days, failing which he will be surcharged. The report by the PAC was unanimously adopted by the whole assembly following findings that the money borrowed from the special purpose account was not refunded.

The committee further observed that no supporting documents were provided to demonstrate how the money was spent, and there was no budgetary provision for the expenditure. Further observation indicated that the expenditure was not regularised in accordance with the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, which requires that all public resources be used in a lawful, authorised, and acceptable manner.

The issue of the expenditure came to light two months ago after Governor Cecily Mbarire was grilled by the Senate Public Accounts Committee for diverting the said money towards a boda boda event. The revelation led to protests from a section of riders in Embu Town, who distanced themselves from the alleged usage, saying they were not involved or aware of the expenditure.

They requested the Governor not to involve them in the issue, claiming that they have not benefitted from anything from her administration since she took office three years ago. They clarified that the Sh10 million they were aware of was raised through contributions during a dinner they organized to plan for a summit held in January last year to raise funds to start their own Sacco, where the governor was the chief guest and contributed Sh1 million.

In defence, the County Government maintained that no money had been misappropriated, stating that the money was reallocated to facilitate the event to support the welfare of the riders. Youth, Gender and Sports CECM Jane Waroga said the funds in question were lawfully accessed, properly applied, and fully accounted for. Ms Waroga asserted, 'No funds were lost, misappropriated or diverted,' adding that the action was taken strictly in adherence with the provisions of the PFM Act that allow temporary internal reallocation of funds.