Varsity VCs and principals will be penalized for failure to provide proper supporting documents or lack of sufficient responses on various audit queries to facilitate the National Assembly in its enquiries.
This has been said by the Public Investments Committee on Education and Governance chairman Bumula MP Jack Wamboka, who also faulted the heads of institutions of higher learning of mismanagement. He said the committee will now invoke Standing order 191A to penalize Vice Chancellors.
Review of a number of records presented to the committee revealed that a number of institutions in the country are unable to sustain themselves despite the vast resources available to them, including large tracks of land for farming and rearing of animals, water, and good infrastructure.
The committee attributed this to incompetence by accounting officers and those charged with the responsibility of resource mobilization.
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The law provides that an accounting officer of a procuring entity shall manage its inventory, assets and stores for the purpose of preventing wastage and loss, and continuing utilization of supplies.
The management of the University of Eldoret was taken to task by the committee over a long outstanding imprest of Ksh431,492,518. This includes staff imprests amounting to Ksh10,741,363, out of which Ksh5,304,613 had been outstanding since the year 2014.
This is contrary to Section 71(4) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 which provides that a public officer who is advanced cash and fails to account for it will have the advance converted into a debt subject to interest at a rate prescribed by the regulations.
Regulation 93(6) of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations, 2015, provides for recovery of outstanding imprests with an interest charged at the prevailing Central Bank of Kenya rate.
The lawmakers called on the ministry to employ competent and qualified officers who have the ability to not only manage, but also have the capacity to innovatively grow these institutions to greater heights.
By Obegi Malack
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