Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has exposed serious financial mismanagement in 12 counties after raising alarm over Sh229.4 million in outstanding imprests for the 2023/2024 financial year.
The findings show that county executives have failed to follow basic financial rules, allowing huge amounts of money to remain unaccounted for.
The report reveals that some officers were holding multiple imprests at the same time, a direct violation of Regulation 93(5) of the Public Finance Management (County Governments) Regulations, 2015.
This law is clear that officers must account for or return imprest funds within seven working days, but in these cases, the rule was ignored.
Out of the total amount, Sh28.6 million from Kakamega and Nyandarua counties was never even recorded in imprests registers, pointing to poor record-keeping and a lack of transparency in financial handling.
Turkana County had the highest amount unaccounted for at Sh85 million, followed by Samburu with Sh39.3 million and Mombasa with Sh25.8 million.
Other counties that were flagged include Bungoma, Tana River, Embu, Siaya, Nandi, Kisumu, Nyandarua, Busia, and Kiambu.
In each of these cases, officers failed to maintain proper imprests registers, which are meant to clearly show the payee names, the amounts issued, imprest numbers, dates issued, due dates, and surrender dates.
These details are important for tracking how public money is spent, yet many counties chose to ignore them.
According to Gathungu, these failures show serious weaknesses in the accuracy and reliability of the financial statements submitted for audit.
In many cases, the reports given to her office were incomplete, making it difficult to confirm how public money had been used.
She warned that such gaps weaken public trust in county governments and their ability to handle resources responsibly.
She stressed the need for better governance, transparency, and accountability in county operations, pointing out that these values align with Sustainable Development Goal 16, which focuses on building strong and effective institutions.
The audit also showed that the problem goes beyond just the imprests.
There was broader non-compliance with public finance rules, meaning that without stronger internal controls, the risk of misuse of public funds will remain high.
The Auditor General has now called on county leaders to take action by enforcing the regulations, strengthening oversight, and making sure that all imprests are recorded and accounted for.
If counties fail to comply, she said, administrative or legal steps should be taken to recover the money.
