Nyandarua Governor, senator clash on cash probe

Nyandarua Senator Muriuki Karue has locked horns with Governor Daniel Waithaka over a report by the auditor-general exposing financial mismanagement in the county.

The senator on Monday denied that the senate had given the county a clean bill of health in financial management.

Speaking to journalists in Ol Kalou town, Mr Karue accused Governor Waithaka of lying that the Senate cleared any lingering doubts regarding the 2013/14 financial year report.

“He has not been cleared. In fact there are still some questions for him to answer”, said the senator.

Mr Karue said the county government was yet to convincingly account for Sh410 million lost on road projects, Sh61 million given by the national government through the Transition Authority for construction of county headquarters, and Sh54 million paid to Tahal International company of Israel for preparation of a water masterplan.

He said the Auditor General had come up with “another report which is worse than the one we had before” after carrying out further investigations as requested by the Senate.

The senator said that the county has received over Sh11 billion from the national government in the last three years yet no major project had been undertaken.

He said the Senate was yet to make its findings known and therefore it was wrong for anybody to say the county government had been cleared of any wrong doing.

The governor’s director of communications, Mr Eliud Miring’u, denied that Mr Waithaka claimed he has been cleared by the Senate.

“The governor put it clearly during an interview on a local television station that the matter is before the Senate,” Mr Miring’u said.

He said the governor, like his counterparts from other counties, appeared before the Senate and contrary to what the Senator is saying, Mr Waithaka has not said anything about being cleared.