Nairobi Liquor board chair distance office from misappropriation of Sh150million, cites his predecessor
The leadership of the Nairobi County Alcoholic Drinks Control and Licensing Board has distanced itself from the missing millions of shillings under investigation by the Nairobi County Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
In a statement, the board chairman Frank Mbogo said the over Sh150 million under the audit query was part of revenue that was collected before he came into office.
Mbogo was appointed in April 2022 after the then board chairman Stephen Kambi resigned to vie in last year’s General Election.
The Auditor-General has flagged over Sh427million that was collected by the Nairobi City County Alcoholic Drinks Control and Licensing Board (NCCADCLB) in the 2019/2020 financial year out of which Kshs150 million remains unaccounted for.
The board chair has pledged to safeguard all revenue funds against misappropriation. He pointed out that under his watch, 90 per cent of the night clubs in Nairobi city had so far complied with governor Johnson Sakaja’s directive on noise pollution.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank Governor Sakaja for spearheading the initiative and bringing sanity back in residential areas,” said Mbogo.
Yesterday, the Nairobi County Assembly Public Accounts Committee put the board to task to explain how it spent over Sh427million revenue collected in the 2019-2020 financial year.
A report by the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu released in October 2022 indicates the county liquor Board only submitted vouchers for up to Sh275,113,746 which was collected during the year under review. The amount represents 91 per cent of the total expenditure.
During the grilling session, PAC chairman Chege Mwaura (Ngara Ward) sought answers from former liquor Board director Hesbon Agwena, how Kshs152 million was spent, yet it was supposed to reflect as balance in the County Revenue Fund account.
The management of the Nairobi Liquor board has been marred by controversy and allegations of graft, nepotism and apparent embezzlement of funds through revenue leakages.
Last year, during the crackdown noise in bars, the sub county liquor committee members distanced themselves on the issuance of the night clubs’ licenses majority of which are said to have been issued unprocedurally.
They said the license were issued they were in court defending their appointment. The secretariat issued the licenses without due diligence.
Each constituency has four private members appointed by the governor in the liquor board.
The Informer Media Group has established that the alleged embezzlement of revenue has also put acting Nairobi County Secretary Jairus Musumba and Licensing Director Rhoda Atieno on the spotlight and they are likely to face PAC summons.
