Sammy Onyango, the chairperson of the selection panel, said MPs were to blame for the current lack of substantive office holder at the Kenya National Audit Office.
A team tasked with filling the vacant post of Auditor-General has turned the heat on MPs, saying Parliament left a void in law that has created the current debacle.
Sammy Onyango, the chairperson of the selection panel, said MPs were to blame for the current lack of substantive office holder at the Kenya National Audit Office.
“We have recommended that if there is anybody who has failed Kenyans, it is Parliament who enacted a law asking the President to declare vacancy in the office of Auditor-General after somebody leaves office,” Mr Onyango told a joint sitting of three parliamentary watchdog committees last week.
The Public Investment Committee, Public Accounts Committee and Special Funds Accounts Committee are jointly probing the cancellation of the initial recruitment of the Auditor-General.
Mr Onyango said the 17 candidates shortlisted in October for the position of Auditor-General either failed professional requirements or integrity test.
The top candidate who scored 75 percent mark, he added, was disqualified on integrity grounds.
"Even those who work in the office of Auditor-General and were shortlisted failed miserably in the interviews," Mr Onyango told the committee.
He then addressed the MPs: “You can accuse me and my panel of not picking a suitable candidate but I accuse you also for enacting a law that creates a vacuum and tramples on constitutional provisions”.
Mr Onyango said the panel had recommended to the President that the Public Audit Act be amended to ensure that the process of picking Auditor-General replacement starts at least six months before a vacancy arises.
The panel also recommended to the President that the incumbent remain in office until a replacement is made.
“Should there be no suitable candidate; the incumbent should stay on until replacement is made. We have also proposed changes in law that would see appointment of a deputy Auditor-General in acting capacity,” Mr Onyango told the joint committee chaired Abdulswamad Nassir.
Appearing before MPs earlier, Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani exonerated the Treasury and the Office of the President from the delay in the appointment of a new Auditor-General, saying the process could not produce a suitable candidate.
“I don’t see any part of omission on the National Treasury and the Presidency. The office fell vacant on August 26, 2019 and by August 27, there was a gazette notice declaring vacancy from the office of the President,” Mr Yatani said.
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