Sacked Shollei among Judiciary bank signatories

The auditor-general has warned of the exposure of Judiciary accounts since former workers, including previous chief registrar Gladys Boss Shollei, are still bank signatories.

Auditor-general Edward Ouko says in a special audit report that Mrs Shollei and Adonisha Wangari Ndua are signatories of the Judiciary’s KCB accounts months after they left the institution.

“Available records from KCB indicate the following as signatories to the Judiciary yet these officers are currently not employees of the Judiciary,” Mr Ouko noted in the report.

“This leaves the Judiciary vulnerable since the officer who is no longer in Judiciary employment can still transact on behalf of the Judiciary.”

The Judicial Service Commission sacked Mrs Shollei last October, citing misappropriation of funds, insubordination and incompetence. But she moved to court to quash her dismissal.

Mr Ouko says that some of the bank accounts, including the ones at KCB, had poorly maintained cash books and their balances since 2011 had not been verified.

The KCB accounts often held cash bails and bonds for persons awaiting their cases to be determined.

The funds are either refundable or converted to government fines upon determination of cases, but the Judiciary settled suppliers’ dues from the accounts contrary to the law.

“Payments amounting to Sh67 million were authorised from the Milimani deposit account to suppliers and there were no payment vouchers prepared and examined in contravention of the regulations,” says the report.

“Therefore the payments were irregular to the extent that it was done from the wrong account.”

The report alleges that Mrs Shollei, as the accounting officer, presided over the opening of bank accounts, without the necessary approval of the Treasury.

The report, prepared for the Parliamentary Accounts Committee, accuses Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Mrs Shollei of presiding over deals at the Judiciary worth at least Sh645 million.

It also criticises the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), accusing it of interfering with the Judiciary’s operations. Mrs Shollei is accused of authorising payment for goods and services in advance, contrary to the law, and settling suppliers dues of Sh262 million without proper authorisation and documentation.

The JSC is alleged to have demanded that people who are not members of the commission be paid Sh80,000 as sitting allowances yet they were entitled to Sh10,000.

And Sh9.8 million was paid out in this manner while Sh1.6 million was paid in allowances for meetings that had not been legally constituted, the report states.
The JSC is also indicted over failure to obey procurement laws by leasing Mayfair Centre through direct procurement.

Mayfair Centre’s owners were also paid Sh7.3 million as rent for two years before the Judiciary occupied the building.

The auditor-general has recommended the recovery of this money in subsequent leases and told the JSC to desist from financing third parties as this is contrary to the Public Finance Management Act.

The audit report, which is likely be tabled in the House when it resumes in June, was commissioned when the fighting between Mrs Shollei and her former employer went public.