College heads under fire over glaring audit gaps

2The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance has raised fresh concerns over accountability lapses in several technical and vocational colleges after multiple heads of institutions appeared unprepared or failed to show up for scheduled hearings on audit queries.

The committee, chaired by Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka, held a full-day engagement with six higher learning institutions at Parliament Buildings on Thursday, focusing on issues flagged by the Auditor General for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.

Tensions emerged early in the proceedings when the Maasai Mara Technical Training Institute Principal Rachel Kimani and her finance officer were turned away for failing to bring along key officials required to answer audit questions.

“Our invitation letter to you was very categorical that your predecessor was to attend this meeting. We cannot proceed without the principal who was in charge during the audit period,” Wamboka added.

A similar fate befell Kapcherop Technical Training Institute Principal, Elias Rotich, who was also turned away, prompting questions from the MPs about the seriousness of school heads in dealing with audit matters.

“These principals don’t seem ready to answer our questions; we cannot undertake such meetings without the accounting officers responsible for the audit questions,” said Sotik MP Francis Sigei.

The committee proceeded with Kipkabus Technical and Vocational Training College Principal Eric Tanui, but MPs expressed frustration over his lack of understanding of basic legal requirements on matters raised by the Auditor General.

Among the flagged issues were expenditures outside the designated periods, stalled construction of an engineering tuition block, and failure to comply with minimum staff ethnic diversity standards.

“It makes no sense that a principal has been in a school for two years but has no access to files of projects, nor does he understand the basic law on ethnic composition of staff,” Kilome MP Thaddeus Nzambia remarked.

“If the principal does not understand what the law says, how do we expect him to comply with its provisions?” Chairperson Wamboka asked.

Kipkabus TVC was also found to have failed to deduct taxes from board members’ allowances. The committee directed the principal to recover the funds and implement systems to ensure tax compliance on such payments moving forward.

Moiben Technical and Vocational College Principal Viola Ng’etich was grilled over Sh1.73 million spent on staff training without conducting a needs assessment or following proper planning procedures.

“You cannot successfully run an institution where you don’t address the staff’s needs,” said Narok MP Rebecca Tonkei.

The college was also criticised for delays in responding to audit queries.

Kitutu Chache North MP Anthony Kibagendi called for closer support from the Office of the Auditor General, saying, “These young institutions need guidance on the audit processes, hence the Office of the Auditor General must guide them to avert these recurrent problems.”

The Committee also questioned Ollessos National Polytechnic Principal Wesley Yegon on a wide range of issues, including failure to adhere to the one-third gender rule in staffing, irregularities in procurement planning, failure to register trainers with the TVET Authority, and losses amounting to Sh21.8 million in catering and Sh743,687 in farming during the 2023/24 financial year.

In the final session of the day, Laisamis Technical Training Institute Principal Charles Rotich was confronted over the institution’s lack of ownership documents for two parcels of land donated by the community and currently held in trust by Marsabit County Government.

MPs further questioned him on the absence of an asset register, late financial submissions, lack of an internal audit function, and unapproved expenditures that led to an underutilization of 37 per cent of the institution’s 2023/24 budget.

“How do you spend public money without any accountability?” posed Lunga Lunga MP, Chiforomodo Mangale.

The Committee is expected to continue its probe into governance and financial issues across public learning institutions, as part of ongoing efforts to enforce accountability and transparency in the education sector.