MPs grill NEA over Sh37.98 million board bill and an 11-seat board
Key points
- NEA spent Sh37.98 million on board expenses against a Sh30 million statutory ceiling.
- Its 11-member board exceeds Mwongozo’s maximum of nine directors.
- Sh1.4 million in exchange-transaction receivables sat unpaid over three years; Sh1.15 million is still out. Chair Emmanuel Wangwe demanded an explanation.
- Only 2 of 120 staff are persons with disabilities (1.7% vs a 5% rule). Auditor-General also flagged IT access, no finance manual; EARB was heard the same day.
Sh37.98 million on board sittings, against a Sh30 million cap, is the number that opened the National Employment Authority’s afternoon at PICSSAA, Eastleigh Voice reported.
Committee chair Emmanuel Wangwe also noted an 11-member board where Mwongozo allows nine. MPs asked why Sh1.4 million in receivables from exchange transactions had hung for more than three years, with Sh1.15 million still unrecovered. “It’s important that you explain to this Committee why the matter has remained unresolved for three years,” Wangwe said. Management blamed closed recruitment agencies. The Auditor-General listed no IT strategic plan, no approved upgrade procedures, weak disaster recovery, and external programmers with access to test and live systems. NEA said it had set up an IT steering committee and started cloud talks with Konza Technopolis — but cloud contracts were unsigned and the disaster-recovery plan lacked executive sign-off. There was no financial policy manual in the year under review; a new finance team is drafting one. On disability employment, only two of 120 staff are PWDs — 1.7 per cent against a five per cent rule. The Estate Agents Registration Board sat the same session over missing asset titles, no audit committee and unsupported investment income.
A bigger board is not a jobs agency
NEA exists to place workers. An oversize board, a Sh8 million overspend and two PWD staff say the oversight file is healthier than the mandate.
Kenya news: Kenya News. Verified shilling caps, board size, PWD ratio and Wangwe quote from Eastleigh Voice / PICSSAA.
The Public Service Commission should say who approved the 11th and 10th seats. NEA should table a recovery plan for the Sh1.15 million before the next audit cycle.
Treasury and the parent ministry should dock board allowances at the Sh30 million line until Mwongozo is met.
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Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of the PICSSAA hearing. Audit queries can be restated in the published report.
