ICPAK wants rogue government accountants named

The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) wants the Auditor-General to release for disciplinary action the names of officials who failed to account for Sh67 billion worth of public funds that were spent in the financial year 2013/14. 

ICPAK chief executive Patrick Ngumi said on Wednesday auditing is a legal process that is undertaken according to laid-down procedures which accounting officers cannot be allowed to ignore without sanctions.

“The report indicates that payments were not supported by invoices and receipts from service providers, updated asset registers were not provided and that a number of the agencies did not have audit committees and risk management policies as required by the Public Finance Management Act,” he said.  

Dr Ngumi said operating in such an environment was contrary to the requirement that procurement committees meet and minutes are taken before any expenditure is incurred.

“Is the Auditor-General saying that there are no documents to support all this? And we are talking about billions of shillings and not petty cash for office tea,” he added.

Dr Ngumi demanded that the Auditor-General, or any other person authorised to do so, release the names of the accounting officers involved so that ICPAK could take disciplinary action against them.

He said finance departments of the institutions mentioned had accountants and chief finance officers who should be held accountable for the auditing gaps that are expressly unlawful. 

“Let them stop talking too much and put faces to these people so that we deal with them if indeed they are our members. ICPAK will deregister them and go to an extent of pressuring their bosses to sack them,” he told journalists at a press conference on the sidelines of the institute’s Enterprise Risk Management conference at the Mombasa Continental Beach Resort.

On Tuesday last week, Auditor-General Edward Ouko released a report indicating the national government was unable to account for Sh66.7 billion.

READ: Ouko queries Treasury’s Sh54bn foreign debt payment

Key ministries including Health, Transport and Infrastructure, Foreign Affairs, Education and the Attorney-General’s office were among those accused of failing to provide supporting documentation on how they spend public funds.

Cabinet secretaries of the affected ministries have since come out fighting, claiming to have provided relevant documentation.

But speaking on Citizen TV’s Cheche show on Wednesday morning, Mr Ouko said the said explanations had come too late despite the clear timelines set for audit.

“That’s what happened in most cases. People who really should take charge are not taking the audit process seriously and are only reacting at the tail end. So these things come well after I’ve signed off,” Mr Ouko said, adding the report was out of his hands, having handed it to the ministries and Parliament.

Any explanations, he said, would have to be made to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee.

In a statement released Thursday last week, Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said that requested documents were provided at the final stages of the audit review because the Kenya National Audit Office (Kenao) gave accounting officers very little time to respond.

But Mr Ouko said that the audit process is a back-and-forth process that takes months, including the release of the first draft to the audited entities — giving them enough time to explain the spending.

“The Public Accounts Committee has the statutory mandate to take a review of the reports and report to Parliament. The committee must take a leadership role in the enforcement of the Auditor-General’s recommendations,” Dr Ngumi said.

The storm generated by Mr Ouko’s report has seen some key officials under his office threatened but he said, “we take it in our stride.”