The Senate has directed the Auditor-General to brutally scrutinize all 47 county governments, uncovering a rot of delayed salaries and billions in unremitted statutory deductions.

The Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) has declared war on fiscal irresponsibility in the devolved units. In a sweeping directive, Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang’ has ordered the Auditor-General to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of all 47 counties to unearth the truth behind the delayed salaries and unremitted statutory deductions. The move comes as a response to a growing humanitarian crisis among county staff, many of whom are retiring into poverty because their pension contributions were stolen at the source.

"It is now clear that counties are mistreating the people who work for them," Kajwang’ stated, his voice dripping with frustration. The situation in Bungoma County, which owes a staggering Sh549 million in unremitted pension contributions, served as the trigger for this national inquiry. It is a microcosm of a larger systemic failure where county bosses prioritize vanity projects over the welfare of their workforce.

The Great Pension Heist

The audit will not just look at the numbers; it will look at the human cost. Deducting money from an employee’s payslip and failing to remit it to their Sacco, insurer, or pension fund is not just an administrative error; it is theft. The Senate’s intervention suggests that this practice is endemic, potentially involving billions of shillings that have vanished into the opaque accounts of county treasuries.

• The Scope: A forensic examination of payrolls, gratuity payments, and statutory remittances in every single county.
• The Trigger: Bungoma County’s admission of Sh549 million in debt to pension firms, a legacy of previous administrations.
• The Goal: To prosecute those responsible for the "financial violence" being meted out on county employees.

A Day of Reckoning

This audit represents a rare moment of teeth-baring by the Senate’s oversight body. For years, governors have hidden behind the veil of "pending bills" to excuse their financial mismanagement. Now, the veil is being torn down. As the Auditor-General’s team prepares to descend on the counties, the message to the governors is clear: pay your people, or prepare to face the full force of the law.