The Ministry of Health has embarked on a countrywide internal audit on systems in all health facilities to guarantee accountability and effective utilisation of public funds.
However, the move has elicited a hue and cry from the Council of Governors (CoG), which is reading malice and ill motive because it was allegedly not consulted over it.
The assessment by internal auditors from the National Treasury will also be conducted in selected health facilities at county level. The American government last week suspended its multimillion-shilling annual funding of key medical support projects in public hospitals.
In holding back Sh2.1 billion worth of aid, the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) said some conditions were yet to be met by some of the implementing partners.
The fears by the US were raised by an internal audit, which raised huge queries on expenditure and misallocation of funds raising the alarm over corruption and integrity issues at Afya House. A letter from Health Principal secretary called on governors to cooperate and facilitate relevant documents for the scrutiny by the auditors.
“The internal audit is currently carrying out a system audit review of the ministry. The purpose of the systems audit is to assess the internal controls that the ministry has put in place to ensure accountability and effective utilisation of public resources,” the letter states.
The letter, dated May 15, 2017 and signed by Jackson Kioko, has scheduled a cluster of four counties, which will be visited by a team of four officials. Council of Governors chairman, Peter Munya while criticising the ministry for embarking on the mission without consulting them, said governors would oppose the move and that their staff would not cooperate with the ministry.
Health Cabinet secretary Cleopa Mailu has, however, conceded the various expenditure queries red-flagged by the audit office were under investigation and assured Kenyans that the suspension was temporary and critical support services such as the HIV/Aids support would remain unaffected.
“We assure Kenyans that stock-outs or non-availability of medical supplies will not be experienced,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday. Mailu said the ministry had addressed matters raised after a quality assurance audit by Treasury.
