Mr Ouko says the ledger and payroll expense for the OP had a Sh111,893,262 variance in the year to June 2016.
An audit of OP accounts found that the ledger amount stood at Sh148.5 million while the payroll showed only Sh36.6 million had been paid out.
In the former Presidents’ Benefits, Mr Ouko says the ledger indicates Sh51.5 million while the payroll shows Sh37.6 million, a variance of Sh13,882,641.
Former presidents Moi and Kibaki are entitled to pension, allowances, staff, vehicles and security and benefits administered from the Presidency’s budget.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko has called out the Treasury over its failure to reconcile or explain a Sh163 million difference in the payment of salaries and allowances at the Office of the President (OP), including payments to former presidents.
Mr Ouko says the ledger and payroll expense for the OP had a Sh111,893,262 variance in the year to June 2016.
An audit of OP accounts found that the ledger amount stood at Sh148.5 million while the payroll showed only Sh36.6 million had been paid out.
“The ledger and the payroll expense for the year ended June 30, 2016… are at variance and the National Treasury has not carried out reconciliation nor given any explanation,” Mr Ouko says in an adverse audit opinion on the financial statements for the Consolidated Fund Services (CFS) — salaries, allowances and miscellaneous services of the Treasury.
Payments to the OP through the CFS includes salaries of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. Former presidents Mwai Kibaki and Daniel Moi’s pensions and benefits are also paid from the same account.
In the former Presidents’ Benefits, Mr Ouko says the ledger indicates Sh51.5 million while the payroll shows Sh37.6 million, a variance of Sh13,882,641.
Former presidents Moi and Kibaki are entitled to pension, allowances, staff, vehicles and security and benefits administered from the Presidency’s budget.
Mr Kibaki’s and Mr Moi’s pensions rose 15.6 per cent in the year to June 2017, further burdening taxpayers. The former presidents were allocated Sh74 million for pensions, up from Sh64 million in the year ending June 2016.
The High Court in 2015 stopped payment of huge allowances to the two former presidents, describing them as unnecessary burden to the taxpayer. But the Attorney-General appealed the decision, allowing the two to continue enjoying the hefty allowances.
Mr Ouko also questions the records of the defunct Commission for Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), pointing out that the Treasury failed to reconcile the Sh189,478,933 in the ledger and the Sh59,488,514 in the payroll, resulting in a difference of Sh129,990,418.
The term of the Charles Nyachae-led CIC, which had a five-year mandate to oversee the implementation of the 2010 Constitution, ended in December 2015. The audit also queries the unexplained difference of Sh125,671,493 in the financial statements of the CFS, citing the statement of receipts and payments that reflect compensation of employees in form of salaries and allowances of Sh2.7 billion while the ledgers show payments totalling Sh2,867,959,567 for the same item in the year under review.
“Further, the payroll summaries and off payroll payments for the period July 2015 to June 2016 also reflect salaries and allowances expenditure totalling Sh2,612,293,003, which differs with the allowances of Sh2,742,2888,074 reflected in the statement of receipts and payments by Sh129,995,070. The difference has similarly not been explained,” Mr Ouko said in a report tabled in Parliament.
