Auditor General flags withdrawal of Ksh.147B by Treasury without Parliamentary approval

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has warned of a gradual increase in fund withdrawals by the Treasury without prior approval from the National Assembly.

Gathungu says that the non-sanctioned withdrawals captured under Article 223, escalated from Ksh.1.1 billion requested during the 2014/2015 financial year, to Ksh.147.3 billion requested by the current administration in the 2022/2023 financial year. This represents an increase of 13,000 percent over nine years.

Her sentiments follow a Special Audit report that also uncovered that five government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had requested Ksh.5 billion for recurrent expenditure and an extra Ksh.2.8 billion for development expenditure.

Although these amounts were approved by the Controller of Budget, they were not disclosed in the information submitted to the National Treasury.

"The most astonishing bit is that Ksh.147 billion was withdrawn without approval of Parliament," Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe said.

In addition, 6 MDAs incurred expenditure totaling Ksh.47.2 billion, which had exceeded the amount approved by the Treasury as additional funding granted under Article 223 of the Constitution.

The report similarly showed that some MDAs exceeded the 10% threshold of the appropriated budget since 2014 contrary to Section 43(2) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.

Gathungu further highlighted deficiencies in the National Treasury's acquisition of shares during the 2022/2023 financial year.

Notably, there's uncertainty surrounding shares amounting to Ksh.6.3 billion obtained by the Government of Kenya in the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, as well as the Africa Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank).

"Our request on Eastern and Southern African Trade Development Bank shareholding has not been responded to date. As a result, we were unable to confirm purchase of shares and to determine whether there were any benefits that may have accrued to the Government of Kenya," said the Auditor General.

She similarly flagged Ksh.7.4 billion approved by Treasury for the Fertilizer E - Subsidy program in September 2022.

"Although the fertilizer had been distributed to farmers, the program may not have achieved its intended objective as the distribution of the fertilizer was not in time for the planting season," said Gathungu.

While highlighting the allocation of Ksh.21 billion for the distribution of relief food from the financial year 2016 to 2022, the Auditor General pointed out several concerns including the absence of comprehensive guidelines for the exercise, failure to prepare and submit returns on food distribution, lack of funding authorization to incur expenditure at the county level, and incomplete distribution lists.

The audit irregularities also extend to the Ministry of Health, where over half a trillion shillings was disbursed to 17 health facilities.

In addition, hospitals had faulty equipment valued at Ksh.185 million while equipment worth Ksh.155 million were yet to be installed in the financial year 2022/2023.

The audit also probed the Ksh.1.7 billion supply of CT Scans to health facilities as it was discovered that CT Scan machines in six out of twenty-seven hospitals had expired.

Within the Ministry of Education, there are concerns surrounding Ksh.13.5 billion allocated for the capitation of Grade 7 learners in Junior Secondary Schools during the financial year 2022/2023.

The report indicates that 7,340 learners in 187 sampled Junior Secondary Schools did not receive this capitation. Furthermore, eight schools did not receive the capitation, depriving learners of access to quality education.

Audit queries have also been raised regarding the Ksh.2 billion Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) classroom construction project as the funds were allocated for the construction of 10,000 classrooms.

Poor workmanship was found in 215 schools during the audit. Additionally, nine classrooms were incomplete, and 30 classrooms were not in use.