Auditor General urges Parliament to take action after SHA revelation shocker

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu now wants parliament to take action and ensure those involved in illegalities in awarding the technology system running the Social Heath Authority are held culpable.

Speaking when she appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Gathungu said she had already fulfilled her constitutional mandate by laying bare the ills that happened during the award of the tender.

This was after the Senators claimed that the reports by the Auditor General are not hard-hitting enough and do not give specific recommendations on how to deal with those who break the law.

However, Gathungu defended herself and instead threw the ball back to parliament as an institution to make necessary recommendations to net those involved in the shadowy deal.

“I have concluded that there was no effectiveness or lawfulness in the use of public resources under on those matters, there is the aspect of Governance and risk management and I pronounced myself that there were issues, I have been very clear,” she told the committee.

Members of the committee demanded immediate action on those who breached the law in awarding the tender.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna challenged Parliament to bite the bullet and cancel the technology tender to protect Kenyan resources.

“Can we with finality take some action, can we take drastic action and agree that we want to terminate that contract and see what will be the consequences, because we can’t continue to allow people to continue enjoying proceeds of crime, let’s just declare SHA a criminal enterprise and we close it today,” retorted Sifuna.

While the committee chair, Senator Moses Kajwang (Homa Bay), lauded the Auditor General for her brave observations, he noted that culprits often get away without any serious consequences, calling for a change in tact to protect the public.

“Kenyans are happy that finally someone has uncovered this thing called special purpose vehicles that are in reality public looting vehicles put together in a rush to justify direct and emergency procurement and certain social emergencies while in the real sense it is a vehicle to loot public resources,” Kajwang said.

“I hope that these reports will not be drowned in political noise, I hope we will keep away the politics and do justice to those that we represent.”