By TWV Team
Barely months after the failed impeachment of Isiolo County Governor Abdi Guyo over gross violations of the Constitution, fresh revelations have emerged exposing blatant looting of public resources at the devolved unit.
The Auditor-General’s report for the financial year ending June 2024 outlines multiple instances in which county officials openly flouted the law, authorising multi-million-shilling payments to contractors and suppliers without proper justification.
One notable case involves a Kshs. 89,264,215 tender for the construction of an accident and emergency centre at Isiolo County Referral Hospital. The contract included delivery of hospital equipment worth Kshs. 17,448,400, which was never supplied, despite the contractor receiving Kshs. 32,955,140 — 91% of the total amount. The project was undertaken without an Environmental Impact Assessment, in violation of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act, 1999 (as amended in 2015) and related regulations. Payment certificates for Kshs. 23,819,432 and Kshs. 9,135,708 issued in February and April 2024 lacked clear valuation of the work done, prompting the Auditor-General to conclude there was “no basis” for confirming their validity.
Similarly, the construction of the Kshs. 4.9 million Isiolo Fire Station proceeded without engineers’ estimates from the Department of Public Works — a key requirement for technical and financial evaluation. The contract was also signed before the mandatory 14-day period had elapsed after notification of award, in breach of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
In another irregularity, a cleaning services contract worth Kshs. 5.9 million was awarded using the request-for-quotations method, exceeding the Kshs. 3 million threshold allowed under the Public Procurement Regulations, 2020. The contract lacked a detailed scope of work, and no daily cleaning reports or schedules were provided to confirm service delivery.
A September 2023 contract with a security firm, valued at Kshs. 2.1 million, failed to specify its duration or end date. Signatures on key documents did not match, and some quotation forms were undated, unsigned, and lacked bid submission deadlines.
The report also flags the payment of Kshs. 200 million to the Isiolo Export Abattoir Account for the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project. The Kshs. 169,746,482 upgrade contract was marred by breaches of procurement law, including the same officials serving on both the tender opening and evaluation committees, and improper notification to unsuccessful bidders.
Governor Guyo’s administration further issued Kshs. 25,818,600 in imprest advances without the required warrants, using the funds for cash procurements exceeding low-value procurement thresholds. Allowances and transport reimbursements were paid to event participants without policy guidelines or proper approvals.
In one instance, Kshs. 3 million was paid to a staff member to “facilitate” land adjudication in Garbatulla, with officers pocketing allowances totalling Kshs. 2,877,200 for eight to ten days of work — without attendance registers, activity programmes, or evidence of actual duties performed.
The Auditor-General’s findings paint a damning picture of systemic disregard for procurement laws and financial regulations in Isiolo County, raising serious questions over governance and accountability under Governor Guyo’s leadership.
