Nairobi — Senators has called for a forensic audit of the bank statements detailing the expenditure of Sh168 million by the Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC) for the 2019/2020 financial year, following claims of forgery and missing documentation.
The Senate Public Investment Committee Chaired by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, the Committee instructed the Office of the Auditor General, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), and the Clerk of the Committee to scrutinize the bank statements provided.
"It seems we are struggling to obtain documents to verify this Sh168 million issue. The only information we have is the bank statements. I am directing the Clerk to collaborate with the fiscal analyst at PBO and the Auditor General to analyze these statements," Osotsi said.
"This analysis will help us understand the composition of the Sh168 million and any related issues we need to consider," he added.
During the session, Kitui Governor Julius Malombe disclosed that attempts by his administration to find documentation on expenditures from the county's Ministry of Trade, when KICOTEC was under its management, had been unsuccessful.
"We couldn't find evidence or supporting documents for the Sh48 million spent on construction because KICOTEC was still a program within the Ministry of Trade at the time," Governor Malombe explained.
He further revealed that his administration's efforts to trace the expenditures through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) had proven futile due to a lack of documentation on the spending breakdown for the year in question.
"Payments were made through IFMIS, so theoretically, we could trace all the payments. It's possible to reconstruct the payments if we track them through IFMIS. However, we were unable to locate any documents transferring goods and assets to KICOTEC from the Ministry of Trade," Malombe stated.
The demand for a forensic audit followed revelations from county officials in the previous administration that the Ministry of Trade had hired consultants to estimate the value of assets, goods, and services procured for KICOTEC. These estimates were reportedly provided to the Auditor General for review.
"If you choose to declare KICOTEC a crime scene, Hon. Chair, that's your decision, but we are being taken in circles," said Kitui Senator Enock Wambua, expressing frustration.
"I'm surprised how people are incriminating themselves by admitting that the county didn't have documents, so they hired consultants to estimate prices in documents submitted to the Auditor General," Wambua added.
Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina supported the call for a forensic audit, arguing that further investigation of the matter would be futile without a deeper analysis of the financial records.
"It seems we're going in circles, and we're unlikely to make progress on these figures. I suggest we do a forensic audit to establish the facts," Kina said.
Former Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, who was summoned to appear before the committee, denied allegations of misuse of public funds and forgery. She urged those questioning the existence of KICOTEC, including Governor Malombe and Senator Wambua, to visit the textile industry in Kitui.
"Senate Mashinani visited Kitui, and Senators, including Senator Wambua, saw the good work being done at KICOTEC. Young people were being trained and given employment opportunities. Senator Wambua, kindly be a good person and visit KICOTEC and see the Sh48 million asset-building in question," Ngilu said.
Ngilu insisted that when she left office in 2022 after losing to Governor Malombe, all the documentation regarding KICOTEC's expenditures was available. She called on the current administration to provide the necessary financial records to the Auditor General.
"I appreciate the Senate's effort to understand what KICOTEC is and the request for the Auditor General to visit and see for themselves. KICOTEC was the county's first parastatal," Ngilu stated.
Governor Malombe responded, saying, "Even if we visit, without the required documentation, it won't help. In our inquiries, we haven't found any."
Senator Wambua echoed Malombe's concerns, accusing the Governor of engaging in distractions by suggesting a visit to the textile factory, while critical financial documents related to the misuse of funds, as flagged by the Auditor General, remain missing.
"I hope that by visiting, we can access the LSOs, tender documents, and payments for KICOTEC. If the only thing preventing this committee from getting the proper documentation is that Senator Wambua hasn't visited, I can go right now," Wambua said.
Wambua explained that he deliberately refrained from visiting KICOTEC, claiming that such a visit would have been used by the previous administration to legitimize what he described as an illegality.
"Through KICOTEC, county funds were lost - significant amounts of money that could have been used to improve services for our people," he said.
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Since last year, KICOTEC has faced financial difficulties, with auctioneers seeking to seize its property over a Sh759,760 debt owed to suppliers.
KICOTEC was established by Governor Ngilu in 2018 at a cost of Sh180 million and garnered national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic when it shifted to manufacturing face masks. The national government, under then-President Uhuru Kenyatta, further boosted KICOTEC by awarding contracts to produce uniforms for chiefs and police officers.
However, the company's fortunes have since declined, with Governor Malombe revealing that KICOTEC incurred a loss of Sh80 million in the 2022-2023 financial year.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) disclosed that in 2019, an allegation of procurement irregularities and conflict of interest against Ngilu in establishing and running KICOTEC was forwarded to them that Trendy Links Ltd a company owned by her son was irregularly appointed to run the facility in the year 2018.
The recommendations by EACC came even after top officials of the Syongilla Youth Polytechnic who had been summoned to appear before the committee alongside Ngilu narrated to the senators how they were subjected to harassment and intimidation to force them to release the title deed of the land to pave way for the construction of KICOTEC.
