Auditor generals officers facing threats, intimidation

The Auditor General, Dr Edward Ouko, on Wednesday revealed that key officers in his department have been threatened following the release of the 2013-2014 audit report that indicates that about Sh67 billion used by several government departments could not be accounted for.

Dr Ouko made the revelations on Citizen TV’s breakfast show Cheche, where he also called for increased funding for his office to enable the department become more effective.

According to the report, of the close to Sh67 billion shillings that is unaccounted for, the Ministry of Health claims the lion’s share with Sh22 billion being unaccounted for.

Despite complaints by various cabinet secretaries that the report does not give the true picture based on later explanations, Dr Ouko insisted that his was to give a report of the account as at 30th June 2014.

The auditor general also spoke on the challenges his team faces, including the limitation of his office’s budget to Sh3.6 billion instead of the requested Sh5.4 billion, and continued intimidation and political pressure from leaders.

Alex Kubasu contributed to this article