KPA Boss William Ruto Under ScrutinyOver Ksh1.9B Deficit
On Tuesday, the Managing Director of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Captain William Ruto, was put on the spot after a report from the Auditor General’s Office raised concerns about the agency’s spending.
The National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, led by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, questioned the official regarding audit queries in the agency’s financial statements for fiscal years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
It is essential to note that although Captain William Ruto confronted scrutiny for the expenditures, he was not in charge of the state agency during that time. In March 2023, after being appointed by Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, he assumed the position of managing director, succeeding John Mwangemi in an acting capacity.
The MPs wanted to know why the KPA paid overtime allowances totaling Ksh 214.6 million to approximately 1,337 employees who worked eight hours per day.
After the Auditor General questioned the validity of establishment expenses totaling Ksh1.9 billion due to a lack of supporting documentation, the legislators demanded clarification regarding the legality of the expenditures.
In a similar vein, committee members posed difficult questions concerning the accuracy and validity of waivers totaling Ksh 242 million and why the agency was unable to account for Ksh 6.1 million in revenue from storage containers.
MP Pkosing, chairman of the committee, pressed Captain Ruto to provide a copy of the authority’s waiver policy document to corroborate the Managing Director’s claim that due diligence was exercised when awarding the waivers under investigation.
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MP Pkosing stated during the session, “Without that document, we will be unable to account for this number.”
In addition, the committee examined the Auditor General’s findings that KPA could not account for license fees totaling Ksh92,6 million by the end of the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
Captain Ruto defended himself by explaining that the validation procedure required written requests.
He explained that the information was included in a Customer Notice that highlighted waiver processing procedure guidelines.
Therefore, Pkosing ordered the Office of the Auditor General to provide the committee with documentation within two weeks detailing how much KPA may have lost due to the aforementioned irregular payments.
The committee also instructed the Auditor General’s office to provide details regarding the measures KPA had taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.
KPA Boss William Ruto Under ScrutinyOver Ksh1.9B Deficit
