Homabay County Gladys Wanga has faulted COB for overstepping her constitutional mandate. Photo: Gladys Nyakang'o X.
Homabay County Governor Gladys Wanga has acknowledged that Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o is competent and excellent in her work, but she has recent overstepped her mandate and duties within her office.
Speaking during an interview with NTV on Thursday morning Wanga said Nyakang’o’s duties has taken over duties that fall within the office of the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, with her role being oversight on implementation of the budget.
According to Wanga, her demanding for an account of how the allocation was spend, is a duty solely in custody of the Office of the Auditor General.
” To oversight budget implementation means ensuring you are implementing your budget as stated. But if you ask me for receipts of how I spent the money, that becomes auditing, which is under the Office of the Auditor-General,” Wanga explained.
The ODM chairperson further cited instances that COB demanded counties to present what she described as audit level documentation, when submitting requisition for her approval.
Wanga argued that the same documents showing how money was spent in counties will be submitted to the Auditor General, faulting the decision by COB to release funds which later paralyze activities in counties, and a misstep to those she is answerable to.
She added that Nyakang’o should focus on approving budget at the beginning of every financial year and checking constitutional actualization.
“Once she starts flagging things in the middle of the financial year, it creates conflict. You should give me the money in my budget. If I misuse it, the Auditor-General will flag it, and I will go to the Senate to answer all questions,” she further explained.
There has been a brewing tension between the Council of Governors (COG) and Nyakang’o’s ofice, with the Council’s chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, describing Nyakang’o as a threat to devolution, stating that they will petition National Assembly and the Senate for her removal in office.
Last month, counties activities were almost crippled after she flagged of disbursement of funds to counties, leading to a delay in the release of the funds by the National Treasury.
“She has become intransigent; she has become unreasonable, extremely unreasonable, and she has taken county governments through hell in accessing money. It is unacceptable,” Abdullahi stated.
Earlier, Nyakang’o had flagged off bursary program by governors scholarship, which the Wajir governor said had been approved by the Ministry of Education for disbursement.
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