A new audit has taken the management of Garissa University to task for using unapproved systems to collect student fees. Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has reprimanded the university for using mobile money “as a convenient fundraising mode”.

Universities usually require students to pay fees and charges through bank accounts.

The auditor says the 2018 fee policy has no provisions on mobile money.

She notes in the audit of Garissa University’s books of accounts for the year to June 30, 2023, that management had not revised the fee policy to approve mobile money as a fee payment method.

“In the circumstances, the regularity of the mobile money as a means of receiving revenue could not be confirmed,” Gathungu said.

The auditor has also concluded that the university has erred by operating without a substantive chancellor for six years.

The auditor stated in the latest review that the situation has persisted since 2017.

The university was granted a charter on 23 October 2017 to operate as a full-fledged university but had not yet appointed a VC at the time of the review in February 2024.

“It was noted that the Minister of Education has granted the Acting Vice-Chancellor a six-month renewable contract,” Gathungu said.

The report further reveals that the posts of assistant principals had also not been filled in substance.

The university advertised the positions of rector and deputy rector in July 2019 and interviews were conducted in December of the same year.

Gathungu reports that the process was stopped by court orders and that the issue was still active in the corridors of justice.

The auditor wants the State Secretary (Education) reprimanded for the continued appointment of principals in an acting capacity.

“This was in breach of Section 35 of the Universities Act, 2012. In the circumstances, the Secretary of State breached the Act,” the report said.

The university rectors chair the institution’s board and senate and act as the secretary of the university council. The VC is the chief executive of the university and is therefore the accountants of the institutions they lead.

After the review issue, the university moved to fill the post, appointing Osman Warfa as chancellor last month.

The position was advertised in March 2024 and interviews were conducted in July 2024.

Warfa’s appointment has met with some opposition. In the report, the auditor has questioned the payment of more than Sh2.4 million as acting allowances to the principal and acting deputy principal.

PAID FOR THREE YEARS

Thmoney was paid for a period of three years, in violation of the Public Service Human Resource Policies and Procedures, 2016.

The policy requires that replacement allowances are not to be paid for a period exceeding six months.

“The management violated the law,” the auditor said, further flagging the university for not appointing a council member.

At the time of the audit, the Cabinet Secretary had not yet appointed a member to replace the retired.

The post became vacant on 8 November 2022, after the original incumbent’s three-year term expired.

“The board was not properly constituted. In the circumstances, management broke the law,” the report states.

The audit cast further doubt on payroll controls and said the systems are weak.

During the accounting year, there have been two cases of four employees with different salary numbers but shared tax numbers.

There were also two cases where officials shared identity card numbers.

“The effectiveness of payroll controls could not be confirmed,” the auditor said.