Auditor-General shines amidst a tangle of corrupt institutions

What you need to know:

  • Public indignation alone is insufficient to change the situation, but the last two weeks reveal both the best and worst about public reasoning in Kenya.
  • The Office of the Auditor-General has distinguished itself in detecting, and reporting on, financial probity within the public sector.
  • The leadership would be well served to remember that as it tries to regain public confidence in its oversight work, the Office of the Auditor-General remains its best friend among institutions.

Revelations about corruption in the Executive and Legislature this last fortnight have shown the Kenyan state at its worst.

Any person who can reflect candidly must wonder how long it takes before we are all consumed by a huge bonfire, with corruption having acquired a cyclical status where it feeds from the Executive to the Legislature, with independent offices such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission not spared.

Kenyans are justified in their indignation with the leadership of all arms of government.

On the other hand, cynical Kenyans also find justification, because to be honest, we all know that we have been in similar situations before.

The script has always been that corruption will not be tolerated, with the understandable retort that it fights back viciously.

In this haze of claims and counterclaims, the cynics seem to be winning, because nobody seems to take responsibility.

Public indignation alone is insufficient to change the situation, yet the last two weeks reveal both the best and worst about public reasoning in Kenya.

NOT COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

I find it disconcerting when well-meaning professionals try to soften the blow on the Executive and Legislature by making the thoroughly uninformed statement that fighting corruption is the collective responsibility of all Kenyans.

Sorry, but I do not think that the Kenyan citizen outside government, after having paid taxes and obeyed the law, should accept further responsibility to investigate state officers and holders of independent offices, such as the commissions created by the Constitution.

This familiar refrain is what allows public sector workers who fail to do their work to claim that public support is not forthcoming to wipe out crime or reduce corruption.

That is clearly an excuse that shows a duty bearer at wit’s end.  Yet difficult moments such as those which Kenyans have undergone after allegations of corruption in Parliament also reveal admirable things that keep hope alive.

To my mind, the only institution that has proved worthy of its place and demonstrated dedication to its constitutional duty is the Office of the Auditor-General.

WORKING UNDER CONSTRAINT

Granted, I am an unqualified admirer of the institution and its work. The Office of the Auditor-General has distinguished itself in detecting, and reporting on, financial probity within the public sector.

Amidst the despair and the embarrassment that Kenyans must suffer given the tough talk and no action by the leaders of both the Executive and the Legislature, the work of the Office of the Auditor-General stands out.

To begin with, the brouhaha in Parliament about the investigations that the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) has undertaken is based on its reports.

While Parliament seems to face difficulty in concluding deliberations and making clear recommendations, the evidence that revealed misuse of public funds primarily came from the Office of the Auditor-General.

What this tells us is that the chain of accountability breaks down at unveiling clear proposals for prosecution of those who are identified in the very detailed reports from the Auditor-General’s office.

Knowing the human resource and financial constraints under which the Office of the Auditor-General works, there is no doubt that this is one of the most effective institutions in the public sector.

Its recommendations are based on solid findings and could sustain convictions independent of the marginal additions that Parliament may make here and there.  

LIMIT PUBLIC ACCESS

While the confusion around revelation of conspiracies makes it difficult to believe that anyone in Kenya really cares about guarding public funds from untouchable public officers with political protection, it helps to recall that this office serves Parliament and Kenyans with distinction.

If anyone out there doubts that the Office of Auditor-General is effective, just look at the selective prescriptions of thePublic Audit Bill, 2014, which intends to limit public access to its findings, and the peculiar imposition of a board over the office under the guise of providing a framework for its supervision.

It is further evidence that the Legislature would be letting go of its autonomy if it allowed the office of the Auditor-General to be further constrained by the Executive through this law.

The leadership would be well served to remember, as it tries to regain public confidence in its oversight work, that the Office of the Auditor-General remains its best friend among institutions.

A parliamentary honour is long overdue, because it certainly will not come from an Executive whose officers are cited throughout its reports’ pages.

Kwame Owino is the chief executive officer of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya), a public policy think tank based in Nairobi. Twitter: @IEAKwame