In the run-up to last year’s general election, the former Governor of Samburu Mr Moses Lenolukula announced his intention to vie as the county Senator on the UDA party but was prevailed upon to drop from the race by then-Deputy President William Ruto. Mr Ruto offered him a job in government on condition that he support the UDA candidate Dr Lelegwe Steve Ltumbesi, which Lenolukula accepted.
However, a year later, Lenolulal remains in the wilderness, without a state job as attempts by President Ruto to make him the Chief Administrative Secretary ended in a stalemate after he “failed” in the interviews conducted by the Public Service Commission. A source, however, reaffirmed it was the National Intelligence Security and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission that advised the PSC against hiring Mr Lenolukula because of his pending corruption case.
Available records show that the former governor is facing several corruption allegations and financial mismanagement which goes back to when he was governor. The Weekly Vision has learnt that Mr. Lenolukula approved a payment of Ksh. 5,677,000 to a private company for sewerage and drainage works through a request for quotation, contrary to Section 105(a) of the Public 246 Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015, which states that a procuring entity can use a request for quotation from the register of suppliers for procurement if the estimated value of goods, works, or non-consultancy services being procured is less than Ksh. 5,000,000.
Further, it was discovered that the contract agreement for the winning bidder was never provided for audit review, as such the county management was in breach of the law. Still, under Lenolkulal’s leadership, a review of employee records reflected that 18 employees were on the payroll despite having attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 years and were not living with any physical disabilities.
However, the county executive did not explain why the employees had not retired. This contravened the provisions of Public Service Commission Circular Ref No. PSC/ADM/13(7) dated November 19, 2020, on the Mandatory Retirement Age of Public Officers, which provides the mandatory retirement age to be 60 and 65 years for nondisabled people and T with disabilities, respectively.
The governor also approved the payment of Ksh. 44,940,000 paid as sitting allowances to village council of elders during the 2021–2022 financial years. However, no evidence of approval of the sitting allowances by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) was provided for audit, as such the regularity of the expenditure could not be confirmed by the Auditor General.
Further, during the 2021–2022 financial years, the County Executive procured drugs amounting to Ksh. 59,072,372 from the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA). However, the contract between the County Executive and KEMSA expired on July 26, 2021; hence, the procurement of drugs was made without valid contractual obligations. Further, the inspection and acceptance committee report and store record (S13 forms) indicated that all the drugs had been delivered, whereas as of August 2022, drugs worth Kshs 10,403,289 were yet to be delivered.
