Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire has come under scrutiny after Sh10 million allocated for a county development project was reportedly redirected to fund a political event targeting boda boda riders.
The Senate Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that the funds, originally earmarked for the County Aggregated Industrial Park, were used to support a boda boda summit attended by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
Governor Mbarire appeared before the committee to respond to audit queries for the financial year ended June 30, 2025.
Senators questioned why the county withdrew funds from a special-purpose account to finance a political programme while the industrial park, intended to promote economic growth and job creation, remained incomplete.
During her testimony, Governor Mbarire confirmed the diversion of funds, explaining that the county faced pressure to honour commitments made to boda boda groups.
“We had what we were calling a boda boda summit where we were launching boda boda saccos, and we didn’t have the money,” she said.
“Yet we had already promised that we were going to give the saccos some money, and so we used the money to give the boda boda saccos,” she told the senators.
The admission drew criticism from committee members, who highlighted what they described as a concerning disregard for public finance regulations.
PAC Chairman Moses Kajwang’ compared the case in Embu with a recent incident in Vihiga County, where funds were reportedly used to finance a housewarming ceremony.
“I think this one is worse,” Kajwang’ said, referring to the Embu case.
“Such borrowing cannot be accepted. It was an illegality, and we must make that determination as such,” he added.
County Aggregated Industrial Parks are co-funded by national and county governments to spur economic development in the counties.
The national government’s share is appropriated by Parliament through the annual County Additional Allocation Act.
Kajwang’ further warned that some counties were diverting funds from donor-supported initiatives, including FLLoCA (Financing Locally-Led Climate Action) and KDSP (Kenya Devolution Support Program).
He noted that Kakamega, Kajiado, and Nyamira counties had been barred from accessing FLLoCA funds due to similar issues.
The committee indicated that Governor Mbarire and other officers involved could face financial surcharges for engaging in what it termed an illegal transaction.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna called for strict consequences, stating that the law should distinguish between unintentional violations and deliberate breaches.
“These are individuals from Embu who broke the law knowingly, and they deserve appropriate punishment,” he said.
Governor Mbarire, however, pleaded for leniency, insisting that this was the first occurrence of such an incident in Embu County.
“It is the first time we did it in Embu County. We did it under immense pressure, and I want to promise this House that we will never do it again,” she said.
The PAC also pressed the governor on the county’s failure to provide key procurement documents for the County Aggregated Industrial Park project.
The Auditor-General’s report showed that Sh219 million had been paid from the project’s account during the year under review.
However, tender documents, payment vouchers, project files, bid documents, and the financing agreement were not made available for audit.
Governor Mbarire explained that the records had been destroyed in a fire that gutted the county finance offices during violent demonstrations in Embu town.
“Regrettably, the tender documents were among the records destroyed in an arson attack on government premises in June during the 2023–2024 period,” she said.
Senators questioned how the county continued making payments after the fire if the original documents had been lost.
“If you made payments amounting to Sh219 million after the fire, then you must have based them on some documents, yet the fire occurred in June 2023,” Kajwang’ noted.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei inquired whether the county reported the arson to the police and requested the occurrence book (OB) number.
He also asked what steps the county had taken to reconstruct the missing records.
Governor Mbarire responded that the county relied on duplicate procurement documents to process payments.
She added that the police were aware of the incident, but no arrests had been made so far.