Drama as Afya House auditor contradicts CS Mailu’s statement

The Ministry of Health’s internal auditor, Bernard Muchere, has defended his report that pointed at alleged corruption at Afya House.

In his submission before the Senate Committee on Health, Muchere said that the report was purposed to point out any discrepancies in the expenditure and bring out any cases of fraudulent transactions in the Ministry.

Muchere said that the audit report was commissioned by Health Cabinet Secretary, Cleopa Mailu, and did not require responses from those mentioned.

His utterances contrast Mailu’s pronouncement a fortnight ago where he faulted the auditor for not giving those mentioned in the report an opportunity to respond to questions raised.

Muchere further claimed that neither he nor his office leaked the report to the media saying upon completion, he handed it to CS Mailu.

“I submitted the interim report to CS Mailu on September 29, 2016 with the aim of giving the management a picture of what was happening at the Ministry. This is after the CS demanded for it despite the fact that it was not complete,” said Muchere.

He further claimed that, during the preparation of the report, he faced several huddles including the getting information from accounting and procurement departments.

“I am a patriot and claims that I am being used by CORD to taint the image of the Ministry are false. I do not deal with politicians; I do not know who will protect me. What I did was purely compliant audit.”

Muchere poked holes into Mailu’s statement that the transactions were above par saying the Ksh 265 million, deposited at Cooperative Bank was not in order.

Mailu had, in a bid to discredit the report, allayed queries over the deposit at the bank, saying the money was meant to secure a letter of credit for a vendor who was supplying food from abroad.

“It was standard mode of payment for imported goods and gives supplier confirmation that once the goods had been supplied they would access their funds,” he said.

The CS had also claimed that the Estama Limited was rightfully awarded the tender to deliver mobile clinics saying they still owe them Ksh 200 million having paid them Ksh 800 million for the delivery of 100 mobile clinics to be situated in slum areas.

But Muchere conflicted this statement saying the company did not qualify for the tender since it had no Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) PIN, despite records at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) showing they are tax compliant.

“This report was a compliance report, and it did not only affect the Minister of Health, but across the board. I request the committee not to look at those issues like whose company benefited from the transactions,” he explained.

Since the story first broke, opinion has been divided over the issue that first put the loss at Ksh 5 billion before being revised to Ksh 3 billion.

Jubilee leaders including, Gatundu South Member of Parliament, Moses Kuria and his Kieni counterpart, Kanini Kega, have faulted the report saying it was a plan by the opposition to soil the image of the government.

Kuria said he was ready to resign should it be proven that the corruption allegations at the Ministry were true.

Kega has, on his part, called on CS Mailu and Principal Secretary, Dr Nicholas Muraguri, to resist calls for resignation saying the alleged loss of money at the Ministry of Health is unfounded.

“We, in Parliament, cannot just rely on papers that have not been approved by the Auditor General to confirm that money was lost at the Health Ministry,” he said, adding: “My message to PS Muraguri and CS Mailu is that they should ignore calls for their resignation and stay put.”