Bomet Governor Hilary Barchok and his executive team appeared before the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee to address audit queries for the 2024/2025 financial year. The session scrutinized several entities, including the Bursary, Education Revolving, and Climate Change Funds, most of which received qualified audit opinions.
Sessional Chair Senator William Kisang emphasized the need for administrative discipline, stating, “Management should ensure that all financial statement errors are corrected at the time of audit”. Senator George Mbugua expressed concern over the escalation of these queries, observing that “these issues should have been addressed at the exit meeting with auditors and not escalated to a Senate level”.
A major point of contention was the Education Revolving Fund’s unsupported bank balance of Ksh 4.3 million. Governor Barchok responded that the “bank account is under the control of HELB,” noting that while the County dispenses funds, the Board manages administration.
Regarding the Climate Change Fund’s 62% underfunding, Barchok attributed the shortfall to the “late passage of county additional allocation Act which resulted in the late disbursement of funds from donors“.
The committee also challenged an irregular Ksh 5.05 million “internal borrowing” from the Car Loan Scheme to the County Executive. While the Governor described this as a move to “address temporary cash flow needs,” Senator Agnes Kavindu warned against systemic lapses: “This is something we are going to be very tough on because this keeps on recurring”.
Governor Barchok committed to recovering the borrowed funds by June 2026 and restating financial records to resolve the audit variances in the subsequent cycle.
By Anthony Solly
