The Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o (pictured) says her office cannot audit some government projects due to the gaps in law deliberately created to hinder her mandate.

Nyakang’o also says budgetary constraints are wittingly hampering her office from fulfilling its mandate to the expected standards.

She said some of the mega projects by the government are never audited making it difficult to prove the real value of money spent.

She however did not name some of these projects.

MPs sought to know whether her personal safety was guaranteed following her recent incident where she was abducted and taken to Mombasa to stand trial.

“The other day you were in trouble with the government of the day. Has this been sorted? Are you now settled in?” posed Matungu MP Oscar Nabulindo. “I am safe. That’s why I am here right now. Sometimes I feel unsafe but it’s the same laws that keep me safe.”

Nyakang’o told MPs when she appeared before the National Assembly Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), that the “discriminatory” salary structure prescribed to her office often presented hurdles in effective implementation of her functions.

The COB had been invited by the committee to explain to members the extent of the Controller of Budget’s mandate. “If you look at our Salary structure, we have been discriminated against compared to other similar offices in the country…in consultation with the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) the office has developed a salary structure to attract and retain qualified staff.

Goodwill and budgetary support are needed for the efficient implementation,” submitted Nyakang’o.

Herculean task

She also told the Gathoni Wamuchomba-led team that legislative gaps in the Controller of Budget Act had over the years made her mandate a herculean task and that there was need to amend the Act.

She singled out Section (4) of the COB Act which she noted fails to recognize a vacancy that a vacancy may arise in the position of the Controller of Budget when the COB leaves office after the lapse of the prescribed timeline of 8 years.

“Section 9 (4) of the Act should be amended to allow the COB report on all facets of the budget implementation as envisaged in the constitution. Under the current existing provisions, the COB is barred from reporting on economic developments and outlook including revenue; grants, loans forecasts, and receipts,” stated Nyakang’o.

The COB decried the inclusion of a provision in the Act that prohibits the voiding of payments after the approval for withdrawal of funds I issued by the COB. To this end, she added, responsibility should be placed on an accounting officer who should ensure that the funds authorized for withdrawal by the Controller of Budget are aligned with the schedule of payments supporting the request.

“This will ensure that payments mirror the approval, thus avoiding pending bills and misdirection of funds,” she explained.

The committee further heard that a delay in the development of the COB regulations following annulment by Senate, were a huge hindrance to the office of the COB executing its mandate.

Public participation

She said that the failure by the Treasury to provide Sh20 million budget to her office had impeded on the office’s ability to conduct public participation on the regulations and crippled its monitoring and evaluation roles.

Early this year, she rubbed the executive the wrong way after she rejected key spending requests by the government which included Sh400 million that State House spent on the purchase of motor vehicles last July.

Nyakang’o also refused to approve Sh700 million spent in the construction of a modern presidential dais at State House. The COB has during the current financial year rejected spending requests of more than Sh58 billion by the 23 ministries, state departments and agencies.

Spending on Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Sh 1.58 billion for facelift, Covid-19 response, pending bills, IFMIS support, and Mau Forest evictees are among those rejected by COB.

The COB also not approved spending of Sh104 million to support the operations of the Trade Cabinet secretary. An expenditure of Sh1.14 billion to support the IFMIS department’s operations, maintenance and implementation of projects is also yet to be approved.

She is also yet to approve the Sh3.4 billion National Treasury used to pay pending bills and settle outstanding invoices under various projects.

The Treasury spent Sh10.9 billion to cater for the KRA budget deficit, pending bills and additional funding for revenue mobilisation but only Sh1 billion has since been approved.