Nairobi — The Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) has said the unbudgeted Sh55billion spent by the National Treasury towards the end of President Uhuru Kenyatta's term is a pointer to weak mechanisms of transparency in the run-up to transition from one Government to the other.
A document presented by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) to MPs during their induction revealed that the Treasury disbursed the funds without the approval of the National Assembly.
The presentations revealed that Sh23.1 billion has already been deposited to the various government Ministries and State Departments.
In a petition to the Clerk of the National Assembly Serah Kioko, COFEK Secretary General Stephen Mutoro said the move amounts to blatant corruption.
"The Kenyan taxpayer cannot be put in a situation where s/he must finance an expensive election and an opaque transition where colossal sums of money are lost. Again, this cannot be a precedent that must be set," said Mutoro.
He noted that the tracking and recovery of the said funds should made a priority, with those who broke the law being brought to swift justice.
"Mechanisms to avert similar incidents from occurring in future must be put in place. This would be the least that is needed to inspire confidence among Kenyans to pay tax," he said.
Mutoro noted that COFEK's effort to address the matter was met with an unsatisfactory response noting that outgoing National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, currently on temporary incumbency, Ukur Yatani neither returned their calls nor answered their tweets.
He urged the National Assembly to order the Auditor General to conduct a special forensic audit, within two weeks, on all public expenditures July to September, 2022 and specifically the expenditure that was never voted for by Parliament but was still allocated and spent.
The Secretary General also called for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry, with public hearings, to have the public know why and further appreciate how the said Sh55 billion was irregularly allocated and spent.
"The inquiry on the relevant authority's should be made public immediately it is tabled in Parliament for further scrutiny by members of the public," the petition read.
He also called for the National Assembly to amend the relevant laws to bar outgoing administrations from spending any such public funds not voted by the National Assembly and by dint of the same introduce heavy penalties including life in prison for those found culpable on such economic crimes that amount to treason and economic terrorism.
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COFEK also called for the amendment of the Finance Act, 2022 and other relevant laws with focus on recalling on delegated legislative power on taxation granted to the Kenya Revenue Authority and or any other agency.
The National Assembly was also urged to establish an independent Public Debt Management Authority that will tracks and monitors any new debt and or repayment with a view to fully complying with the applicable law(s).
Meanwhile, legislators are looking to put in place legislative proposals to curb the abuse by the National Treasury on budgetary issues.
"The National Treasury is showcasing how it has become opaque on a matter that should have a huge input from Kenyans," said Dagorreti South MP John Kiarie.
"The National Treasury has misused the spirit of the supplementary budget to the extent of even paying salaries," said Kitui Rural MP David Mwalika as he suggested a legislative mechanism to tame the National Treasury's abuse of the Constitution.
Article 223 of the Constitution stipulates that the national government may spend money that has not been appropriated by Parliament but the expenditure must, however, not exceed 10 percent of the appropriated funds.
The government can also spend if a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no amount was appropriated by the National Assembly.
That need may be a natural disaster like floods, drought, a pandemic like Covid-19 or an emergency that cannot wait for Parliament to appropriate resources.
