New rule aimed at making county budgets foolproof
The Controller of Budget has laid down measures to tame theft and mismanagement of public resources in the counties’ budget-making process.
Henceforth, all counties will be required to produce budget transmission letters signed by the respective County Assembly Speaker and Finance executive indicating they are both in agreement with the budget to avoid adjustments.
Failure to meet this requirement, the budgets will not be approved.
Acting Controller of Budget Stephen Masha termed alteration of final county budgets and lack of budget implementation mechanism the “elephant in the room” in many devolved units.
He said the new requirement will tame misuse of public funds and instill transparency in counties.
“There have been several cases where the budget we received in our office is different from what had been passed in the Assembly. To end this, we shall not be receiving any budget proposals from the counties without a transmission letter signed by the two officials,” said Masha.
He spoke during an accountability meeting that brought together the Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee members and Members of County Assemblies Public Accounts Committees from the 47 counties.
Masha emphasised the need to empower County Assemblies to ensure proper utilisation of funds at the devolved units. He said his office would ensure all MCAs access Controller of Budget reports.
“Cases of MCAs complaining of not accessing Controller of Budget reports will come to an end as all copies will be available at county halls, Huduma Centres and in public libraries for transparency purposes and we invite members of the public to petition my office whenever they suspect misuse of county funds,” he said.
Public participation
Masha promised to start sharing quarterly reports with County Assemblies and copies sent to public institutions for transparency.
“Members should also know our duty involves investigation on how the budgets are being implemented and we work closely with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission whenever we receive a case beyond our mandate,” he said.
The Controller of Budget cautioned county governments against ignoring members of the public in the budget-making process, saying public participation is enshrined in the law.
“We understand there is lack of adequate skills in budget-making process but we are asking County governments to ensure all budgets undergo all steps and they must be signed by a certified accountant,” he said.
The new regulations are aimed at curing budget-related conflicts in the devolved units.
