Treasury orders IFMIS audit to to improve efficiency, stem corruption

The National Treasury has commissioned an audit on its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) as the State seeks to upgrade its efficiency as well as detect fraud before funds are lost.

Speaking to members of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge said the Auditor General's office had been tasked with carrying out the assessment and would soon be making recommendations.

“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,” said Dr Thugge, noting that there were areas that have been earmarked for improvement to ease its use and reduce fraudulent transactions.

“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.

While hosting PAC members at the IFMIS offices Wednesday, Dr Thugge said that the financial management system was playing a critical role in increasing transparency as well as giving investigating agencies crucial leads in the fight against corruption.

“So far the system is doing well. It has successfully assisted investigating authorities in giving them audit trails that they can follow and bring a case to conclusion. These audit trails cannot be done without IFMIS,” said the PS.

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He added that the Treasury was also looking to add new modules on the system that include debt and pension management that are expected to enhance the management of public finances.

IFMIS Director Jerome Ochieng said the Treasury is also exploring ways of improving the system to handle emerging challenges such as online-based crime.

“Cyber-crime has become a major challenge and we have always moved with speed to ensure that when such challenges emerge, mitigation measures are in place to avoid being caught off guard,” Mr Ochieng said.

The PAC delegation, led by its chair Nicholas Gumbo, was on a visit to assess the infrastructure and operations at IFMIS.

“The aspirations of the system are good and we need to inform Kenyans about its benefits,” said Mr Gumbo.