Kakamega MPs defend Waiguru over NYS fraud allegations

Members of Parliament from Kakamega County have come to the defence of Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru over allegations of corruption at the National Youth Service (NYS).

The MPs, led by Lugari legislator Ayub Savula, said the Devolution CS is being unfairly targeted after she foiled a plot to defraud the public off Sh826 million through irregular payments from NYS accounts.

Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe said the matter should not be politicised and called for speedy investigations to determine those behind the attempted fraud.

Responding to claims that there has been cases of corruption at the NYS, Waiguru, under whose ministry the department falls, admitted that attempts had been made to steal Sh826 million from NYS, though they were stopped before they could happen.

Waiguru said someone got into the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) and made several commitments of similar transactions.

Waiguru said the matter has been reported at the Director of Criminal Investigations and would seek a way forward once the investigations have been concluded.

The corruption allegations at the NYS were published in a local daily after it emerged that the Central Bank of Kenya had questions over payments made since November 2014 of Sh665 million by the NYS.

NYS stands as one of the best-funded institutions in the country, with this years’ budgetary allocation standing at Sh25 billion.

The department was transferred from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to the Waiguru-led Ministry of Devolution when the Jubilee Government took over in 2013.