Garissa County Assembly operates on land without title deed, audit reveals

A recent audit report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has revealed that the Garissa County Assembly is conducting its business on a land it cannot legally prove its ownership. The report states that the Assembly lacks a title deed for its premises, raising fears that the prime public land could be grabbed or lost in a legal dispute. Without ownership documents, the Assembly cannot secure the land, undertake permanent developments, or defend it against encroachment.

The audit report also flagged massive loss of public funds at the Garissa County Assembly. The County Assembly presented a financial position reflecting property, plant and equipment balance of Sh258 million, including Sh60 million relating to a parcel of land on which the County Assembly Chambers, Office Block and other buildings are built. However, the Management did not provide ownership documents, such as land title deeds or allotment letters, to confirm ownership of the land.

The Auditor General's report further noted irregular payment of mileage allowances to Members of the County Assembly. The statement of financial performance reflected an expenditure of Sh686 million on employees' costs, including Sh222 million on personal allowances paid as part of salary, while Sh68 million was paid as mileage claims to MCAs. The Auditor General noted that 16 nominated MCAs were consistently paid the maximum reimbursable monthly mileage allowance of Sh147,481 and cumulatively were reimbursed Sh29 million.

The audit report also flagged unsupported domestic travel and subsistence allowances at the county assembly. The assembly spent Sh280 million on goods and services, spending a total of Sh149 million on domestic travel and subsistence allowances. Review of payment records provided for audit revealed that an amount of Sh2.5 million was paid to officers as allowances for attending workshops, training and other duties outside Garissa County, but the payments were not supported by minutes of the meetings, workshop attendance registers, and evidence of travel.

The County Assembly had failed to resolve budgetary control and performance, and had failed to comply with staffing levels as well as the one-third rule in employee composition. The Assembly also breached the law by employing partisan staff above the approved ceiling, engaging 214 partisan staff members against the maximum recommended 144, resulting in an excess of 70 staff members.

A review of the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) revealed that the County Assembly had 120 permanent employees against the approved 100. The Commission on Revenue Allocation recommendation through Circular Number CRA/FA/01 Vol 11 (22) dated 28 June, 2018, on County Government Recurrent Expenditure ceilings, capped the maximum number of employees of County Assemblies under group two, under which County Assembly of Garissa falls, at one hundred.

In response to the audit report, Mr Mohmoud Santur, the assembly clerk, confirmed the reports and blamed other government institutions for frustrating the process of obtaining a title deed. He stated that the process to streamline proper use of public funds has since been initiated, and that the next financial report shall be different, reflecting positive steps in management of funds at the Assembly.

Key points

• The Garissa County Assembly operates on land without a title deed, posing risks of land grabbing or loss in a legal dispute.
• The audit report flagged irregular payments of mileage allowances and unsupported domestic travel and subsistence allowances.
• The County Assembly breached the law by employing partisan staff above the approved ceiling and failed to comply with staffing levels.