Gender docket in a spot over Sh104m sanitary pads cash
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
What you need to know:
- No document was provided to support payment.
- Report also flagged irregular procurements worth Sh12.9 million during the 12th Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers Meeting.
An audit report has put the State Department of Gender on the spot for a number of expenditures, including Sh104 million paid for sanitary towels for public schools.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, in her 2019/20 report, notes irregularities, saying no document was provided to support payment, which was for pending bills brought forward from the previous fiscal period.
The department runs the free sanitary towels programme that supports more than 3.5 million learners in public primary, special, and secondary schools.
The Basic Education Amendment Act (2016) places the responsibility of providing free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels on the government to reduce the number of girls skipping classes during their menstrual cycle.
It is estimated that the Treasury has pumped Sh1.9 billion into the initiative, which was started in 2011 under the Ministry of Education. About 11.2 million learners have so far benefitted.
The programme was transferred to the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs in the 2017/18 financial year with a budget of Sh470 million.
The report has also flagged irregular procurements by the department worth Sh12.9 million during the 12th Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers Meeting (WAMM) held in Nairobi from September 16 to 20, 2019.
It is further accused of procuring conference facilities at Sh7.5 million using the request for quotations method, contrary to Section 106 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, and the Public Procurement and Disposal Regulations, 2013, that provide a threshold of Sh2 million for the use of the method.
Also questioned is the unsupported expenditure of Sh3.4 million for printing, advertising and information supplies and services; communication supplies and services; and domestic travel and subsistence.
The payment of Sh1.5 million for ICT equipment and networking services in violation of ICT Circular No MICT/A/10/3 VOL.L of January 24, 2019, has also been questioned.
The auditor has in addition interrogated the accuracy and completeness of the remuneration of directors of Uwezo Fund, amounting to Sh4.1 million, as well as the nonpayment of pending bills amounting to Sh2.2 million in the year under review.
The report says failure to settle a year’s bills hurts the implementation of the subsequent year’s budgeted programmes. The Gender department has further been faulted for noncompliance with Financial Reporting Guidelines, with Gathungu taking issue with the forward by the Cabinet Secretary in the financial statements presented for audit not being signed as demanded by the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board.
