Queries over IFMIS ability to end corruption

Complaints about the effectiveness of the system the government uses to track and manage its money, weak Principal Secretaries and perpetual lateness in meetings, dominated a high-level meeting between the accounting officers of the three arms of government and the independent offices.

Parliament’s watchdog committees and the auditor-general questioned the effectiveness of the integrated financial management information system (Ifmis), which has so far cost more than Sh5 billion but seems not to help curb corruption and leakages.

Public Accounts Committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo and his Public Investments Committee counterpart Adan Keynan said that there are obvious issues with the system and the people who manage it.

The development of Ifmis was overseen by Anne Waiguru before her appointment as Devolution Cabinet Secretary in 2013.

At the meeting with the accounting officers from the Executive, Parliament and independent offices on Thursday morning, Mr Gumbo and Mr Keynan said the theft of public funds had undermined confidence in the system.

“In private, there are some accounting officers who say that much as the system should be an integrated financial management system, it is neither integrated nor can it manage anything,” said Mr Gumbo.

CONFESSIONS

He said some accounting officers who are usually the Principal Secretaries, had confessed they don’t know how to use the much-vaunted system.

“When we see all these pilferages, where is the integration, where is the system?” he asked.

Auditor-General Edward Ouko also said the system has not made it easier for him to work.

Equating it to a road, he said the Kenya National Audit Office finds it difficult to track money when it gets off the main road.

“Much has been invested in Ifmis but we’re still not getting the results we expect,” said Mr Ouko.

The complaints about Ifmis and the Principal Secretaries suggests a need to re-examine the system and to train the accounting officers on how the audit process works.

They also point at inefficiencies in the way the Budget is handled and why there are perpetual problems with the manner in which public finances are handled.

He said that in the course of the audit process, some civil servants engage auditors in a cat-and-mouse game and often submit their financial statements way after the September 30 deadline.

“Audits are usually not owned at the highest level of the ministry. That needs to happen,” said Mr Ouko.

POOR PERFORMANCES

Mr Keynan said PIC is often frustrated by the poor performance of some accounting officers, who often make up excuses not to meet the committee and appear reluctant to answer queries about their finances by the Auditor-General.

“This includes coming before the committee unprepared, submitting poorly prepared  and unconvincing responses, late submission of responses and failure to furnish the Office of the Auditor General with advance copies of responses,” said Mr Keynan.

Mr Gumbo said the same case applied to PAC, where some accounting officers come up with numerous excuses to avoid meetings with the committee to answer queries raised by the auditor.

“When accounting officers either appear to avoid appearing or come up with excuses, that is a matter that causes concern at the committee,” said Mr Gumbo.

Mr Keynan did not name the accounting officers who have given them trouble but Mr Gumbo cited those from the Lands and Transport ministries, Mariamu El Maawy and John Mosonik respectively.

The committee has also had a rough time with Health Principal Secretary Dr Nicholas Muraguri, who had a hard time explaining an audit query on the source of the Sh17 billion that was part of the Sh24 billion the ministry used to pay health workers between July and December 2013.

Former Planning PS Peter Mangiti infamously tabled before the committee an asset register that he had to withdraw.

“We have had three, four or five accounting officers say, ‘My officers have let me down,’” said Mr Gumbo.

Surprisingly, Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Kamau Thugge agreed with the MPs, saying: “On the accounting officers’ issue, I completely agree with that.”

Dr Thugge did not respond to the queries about Ifmis but has in the past spoken of an audit of the system to establish its weaknesses and potential areas of improvement.

REPORT ALMOST DONE

“We had asked for an audit because we want to see how the system is operating and also point out areas of improvement.

The Auditor General has almost finished with the report and we will look at it and take on board their recommendations,” he told PAC in February.

Some areas have already been targeted for improvement.

“We are looking at risk management on the system and here we are looking at possibly having triggers in place so that fraudulent transactions can be detected before funds are lost.

This will be in addition to the audit trails already in place,” he said.

Ifmis has come under particular focus in the recent past in the unfolding saga at the National Youth Service where Sh791 million was reported to have been lost.

Adan Harakhe, a deputy director general at NYS, claimed his password to the system was used to commit money to suspicious procurements.

Several suspects have since been arraigned in court over the matter.