Auditor General reveals the rot at MBOONI GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED

30 JUNE,2024

MAKUENI COUNT

The school principal is Madam Agnes Ithinga

UNEDITED REPORT

The statement of receipts and payments reflects boarding and school fund expenditure

amounting to Kshs.69,329,628 as disclosed in Note 9 to the financial statements which

was utrlised in procurement of goods and service. lncluded in that expenditure is an

amount of Kshs.12,496,174 paid to suppliers who were irregularly issued with quotations

and awarded contracts since the firms were not in the list of registered suppliers a there

was no evidence provided to confirm that these suppliers underuent the required

prequalification process prior to engagement. This was contrary to Section '106(2) of the

Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 which requires the accounting officer

of a procuring entity to give request for quotation to such persons as are registered by the

procuring entity.

Further, Management did not demonstrate that they sought in writing to use another State

Organs' registration list of all registered persons in the category as required by Section

56(1) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 which pr

The statement of receipts and payments reflects infrastructure and boarding and school

fund payments amounting to Kshs.4,358,280 and Kshs.69,329,629 respectively and as

disclosed in Notes 8 and I to the financial statements. lncluded in this expenditure, is an

amount of Kshs.4,354,740 and Kshs.13,295,079 relating to construction expenditure of

the school library and dormitory, respectively. However, an appraisal of the projects'

procurement process revealed that no feasibility study was conducted prior to requisition

of the project contrary to Section 71(2) (al of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal

Regulations, 2020.

Further, Management did not advertise for tenders through the Government tender's

portal website or in two national newspapers and no tender opening register was

maintained. This was contrary to Section 96 and Section 78(6) of the Public Procurement

and Asset Disposal Act, 2015. ln addition, the tender opening minutes were not signed

by all the committee members as required by Section 78(1'1) of the Public Procurement

and Asset Disposal Act, 2015. Further, only preliminary evaluation was conducted since

no evidence was provided to confirm technical or financial evaluation, no individual score

sheets were available. This was contrary to Section 55 of the Public Procurement and

Asset Disposal Act, 2015 and Regulation 31(1) of the Public Procurement and Asset

Disposal Regulations, 2020 and there was no professional opinion issued, contrary to

Regulation 71(2) and Section 84 of the Act. The contract was irregularly awarded to an

ineligible firm that was not licensed under National Construction Authority contrary to

tender document requirements.

Further, there was no proof that the School entered into written contracts with the

successful tenderers, contrary to Section 135(4) of the Public Procurement and Asset

Disposal Act, 201 5, which requires that no contract shall be deemed formed until a written

agreement is signed. Despite the library being completed, commissioned and payment

made, no completion certificate was issued to support the payment contrary to Section

154(a) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 which requires the head

of procurement to issue a certificate to the contractor after confirming and accepting the

works where the contract is not complex and specialized.

The statement of receipts and payments reflects operations payments of Kshs.9,539,027

as disclosed in Note 7 to the financial statements. lncluded in this expenditure is an

amount of Kshs.4,118,451 being payment of personnel emoluments. However, review ofthe personnel records and documentation revealed that the School had twenty-eight (28)

employees hired under the Board of Management (BoM). However, there was no human

resource policy to guide recruitment, engagement, and management of these staff

members. Further, the nature of the work performed was continuous and long-term,

contrary to the provisions of Section B of the Public Service Human Resource Policies

and Procedures Manual dated May, 20'16.

ln the circumstances, Management was in breach of the law.

The statement of assets and liabilities reflects accounts receivable balance of

Kshs.23,492,954 in respect of fees arrears as disclosed in Note 12(b) to the financial

statements. However, included in the balance are receivables amounting to

Kshs13,380,310 which had been outstanding for a period of more than one ('l) year.

ln the circumstances, the accuracy, completeness and recoverability of the receivables

balance of Kshs.23,492,954 could not be confirmed

The statements of receipts and payments reflects School fund income - parents'

contributions of Kshs.76,967,588 as disclosed in Note 4 to the financial statements.

However, an amount of Kshs.600,000 was irregularly transferred from the boarding

account to the operations account. ln addition, review of banking records revealed that

eight (8) school fees cheques from parents, totalling Kshs.233,275, were deposited into

the operations account instead of the boarding account. This was contrary to the Ministry

of Education Circular Ref. No: MOE.HQS/3/13/3 dated 16 June, 2021 on guidelines on

implementation of Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) paragraph 3.0(2) which

requires that the operational account be used for banking all Government subsidies

except the tuition.

ln the circumstances, Management was in breach of the law