Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire has defended her administration following a raft of queries raised by the Auditor-General for the financial year ended June 30, 2025, saying the county has taken concrete steps to address weaknesses flagged in financial management, procurement, governance, and service delivery.
The OAG has issued a qualified opinion on the County Executive of Embu’s financial statements, citing unsupported expenditures, unreconciled balances, stalled projects, weak internal controls, and non-compliance with various laws.
However, Governor Mbarire said most of the issues raised were historical, transitional, or administrative in nature and are already being resolved.
On questioned retention deposits amounting to Sh.18.3 million, the Governor explained that the variance originated from earlier financial years when the county did not operate a dedicated retention account.
The discrepancy pertains to years in which the money could be kept in the Development bank account since there was no separate deposits account. All funds have been accounted for after the reconciliation was completed. The management is in the process of providing for the difference through a supplementary budget. Retentions for the current and recent years are wired to the retention account accordingly.”
The audit also questioned legal fees amounting to Sh.2.28 million paid to an advocate without adequate documentation. Governor Mbarire maintained that the expenditure was necessary to protect the county from costly court judgements.
“The legal fees were paid to law firms that were contracted by the county government to defend it against various legal suits instituted against it. The County could have suffered immense loss if the legal firms had never appeared in court to represent the County, as judgement have been made previously against the County for failing to enter an appearance.”
Concerns were further raised over unsupported payments linked to the County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP), where audit documents were reportedly destroyed during demonstrations.
“Regrettably, the tender documents were among the records destroyed in an arson attack on government premises in June 2023/2024.”
Governor Mbarire said critical documents have since been made available and clarified that the project is jointly implemented with the National Government.
On undisclosed and misclassified liabilities totaling over Sh.1.7 billion, the Governor acknowledged the audit observation and assured compliance going forward.
“The observation has been considered and shall be implemented in future reports while the Sh.10,167,300 was not a borrowing but an inter account transfer which was appropriately journalized and authorized.”
Addressing unreconciled debts owed to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA), Governor Mbarire said the county has finalized reconciliation and established the accurate payable amount.
“The reconciliation to that effect has been concluded and provided for audit verification.”
The audit also highlighted stalled health projects, idle facilities, delayed completion of vocational training infrastructure, and failure to operationalize some institutions. The Governor said budgetary constraints and design changes affected implementation but insisted progress is being made.
“The Government is however at a very advanced stage of upgrading Four more health centers into sub-county hospitals, one of which is in Manyatta Sub County.”
On pending bills, which increased by three percent, Governor Mbarire said the county balanced debt settlement with development priorities.
“The management has endeavored to settle the accounts payable through budgetary provision as well as deliver development to the residents.”
The audit further cited weaknesses in ICT governance, lack of asset registers, and delayed policy implementation. Governor Mbarire said reforms are underway, including the establishment of oversight structures.
“The County is actively consolidating ICT governance to eliminate fragmentation and ensure uniform standards across all departments.”
Despite the adverse findings, Governor Mbarire reaffirmed her administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and full compliance with the law.
“The management recognize all outstanding matters and has put down measures to bring them to a closure including allocating funds for adequate budgetary allocation and adherence to specific guidelines from the national Government.”
