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Ministries warned on misuse of funds
What you need to know:
- The PAC normally scrutinises the reports from about two years back and much of the queries have by that time been answered, making their job tedious but without the desired results.
Parliament will work with the public prosecutor, the anti-graft agency and Auditor-General to block the budgets of ministries whose accounts are not in order, a House committee has said.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Ababu Namwamba said ministries that misused public funds would be brought to book.
He said the team wanted to speed up the scrutiny of reports by the Auditor-General so that ministries and departments that failed to account for their allocations are questioned before those for the next financial year are approved.
His committee met with Lands ministry and State House teams to address queries raised by the Auditor-General for the 2010/2011 financial year.
“Before we’re through with you, the Budget Committee will not clear your budget,” he told Lands Principal Secretary Mariamu el Maawy. “We’ll not stop at blocking your budget. We’ll go to the extent of prosecuting you.”
He said his statement was directed at all ministries and departments and was repeated at the meeting with the State House team.
The morning meeting was postponed because State House Comptroller Lawrence Lenayapa had not given explanation to the Auditor-General’s officers despite having sent them to the committee.
“Those departments that do not clear their accounts with us, we’ll not clear your budgets. We want to work with the Director of Public Prosecutions and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission so that the issue of accountability is taken seriously,” said Mr Namwamba.
The aim is to get the EACC involved and allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to go after anyone found culpable rather than wait for the Auditor-General to raise the issue in his annual report.
The PAC normally scrutinises the reports from about two years back and much of the queries have by that time been answered, making their job tedious but without the desired results.
With State House, for example, the Auditor General had raised queries about re-allocation of funds without authorisation, misallocation of expenditure of Sh55 million, expenditure without supporting documents, outstanding and outstanding imprests of Sh2.5 million.
Mr Lenayapa and his team were given one week to consult with the Auditor-General and report back to the committee.
With Lands, where the accounts for the former Nairobi Metropolitan Development ministry were being examined, there had been some outstanding imprests for Sh3.8 million.
These had already been settled, said Ms El Maawy.
