The Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee held an oversight hearing to interrogate the Auditor General’s report for West Pokot County for the 2024/2025 financial year.
Chaired by Sessional chair and Committee Vice chair Senator Eddy Oketch, the session saw Governor Simon Kachapin and his executive team face scrutiny over significant financial and operational lapses across the Kapenguria Referral Hospital, various sub-county facilities, the Kapenguria Water Company, and the Cooperative Development Fund.
A primary focus was the “backchanneling” of Facility Improvement Financing (FIF) funds, in which money intended for individual hospitals was diverted into central departmental accounts.
Audit reports revealed that while Kapenguria Referral Hospital struggled with severe resource gaps, including a lack of MRI and CT scanners, over Kshs. 12.3 million had been irregularly transferred to the County Revenue Fund. Senator Eddy Oketch questioned the county’s decision to customize local laws to divert 29% of facility revenue to departmental functions.
“The national FIF law is superior to your county laws and allocating percentages to departmental activities while your referral hospital lacks a basic defibrillator is defeatist and a direct violation of Section 7 of the Act,” Senator Oketch stated. “These funds must be retained and spent by the facility that collects them, not backchanneled to the ministry where they lose their intended impact”.
The committee also raised alarms over the rejection of social health insurance claims due to administrative negligence. At the referral hospital, audit findings showed that out of 4,693 claims submitted, 16 claims totalling Kshs. 1,134,850 were rejected because of invalid patient details or missing supporting documents, such as theatre notes. Senator George Mbugua demanded accountability for the facility’s structural neglect and staffing imbalances.
“It is unacceptable that the hospital continues to use hazardous asbestos roofing and has failed to complete a modern mortuary eight months after the contract lapsed, while you are also failing the test of national diversity with 50% of your staff coming from one dominant ethnic community,” Senator Mbugua noted. “We cannot have every shilling needed for patient care being lost to administrative failures and stalled projects.”
Governor Simon Kachapin defended his administration by highlighting the systemic challenges of transitioning to the Social Health Authority.
“We are retraining our claims staff and sensitizing them on standard operating procedures to reduce these errors, but the national Ministry of Health frequently introduces new requirements that make it difficult for our teams to maintain uniformity across the counties,” Governor Kachapin explained. “Regarding the mortuary, heavy rainfall prevented access to the site, but the project is now complete, and we are working to address the staffing imbalances”.
Beyond the health sector, the Kapenguria Water Company was flagged for an adverse audit opinion after failing to install meters for 60% of its customers and operating without a valid license. The Cooperative Development Fund also came under fire for failing to recover over Kshs. 42 million in long-outstanding loans.
The committee directed the Governor to provide written submissions for all unresolved queries and to align county legislation with national financial standards.
By Anthony Solly
