Economy

Ouko faults JSC for failure to justify spending Sh113.8m

ouko

Auditor-General Edward Ouko at a past event. PHOTO | FILE

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) failed to justify expenditure of Sh113.8 million it supposedly spent on foreign travel, advertisement and training in the year to June 2016.

Auditor-General Edward Ouko said the commission also failed to provide supporting documents and board minutes for 30 meetings which cost JSC Sh49 million.

In his audit report on the JSC for the year to June 2016, Mr Ouko said the commission incurred expenditure which had huge unexplained increases under the use of goods and services vote.

He said the commission incurred an unexplained increase of Sh21.8 million in foreign travel and subsistence compared to the year to June 2015.

On printing, advertising and information supplies and services, the JSC incurred Sh12.4 million more or a 290 per cent rise compared to the previous year.

Training expenses shot up to Sh136.5 million from Sh81.7 million in 2015. Other operating expenses hit Sh32 million up from Sh7 million translating to a 332 per cent rise.

“The management of the board did not provide sufficient explanations to justify the huge increase of the expenditures.

“In the circumstance, the propriety and probity of expenditure of Sh241.4 million could not be ascertained,” Mr Ouko said in a qualified audit report tabled in the National Assembly last evening. He said during the year under review, the commission held 61 meetings but only 31 were supported by minutes.

“In the absence of proper supporting documents of attendance registers and board meeting minutes, the total expenditure of Sh49 million paid for board meetings could not be ascertained,” Mr Ouko said.

The auditor also questioned the under expenditure of Sh78.8 million or 17 per cent of the total budget.

He said no explanation was provided for the low absorption of the budgeted funds which cast doubt as to whether the commission achieved its intended purposes during the year under review.

Separately, the Judiciary presented its annual budget for the 2017/18 financial year to Parliament.