Use of secret accounts to run state affairs as captured in recent auditor-general reports is, no doubt, turning out to be a huge point of exposure in the management of funds.
Recent findings show that the cover of secrecy is being used by senior officials to plunder or waste taxpayers money with abandon. This certainly cannot be allowed to continue at this time when the country is in a tight financial situation. State officials in charge of these accounts, which we accept may be necessary to run, can however not be allowed to avoid accounting for the expenditure.
In the latest findings, for instance, an audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found that the department could not account for Sh52 million drawn from secret accounts.
The Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis), which traces all state expenditure, indicates that Sh437.7 million was spent from the confidential accounts. But a certificate issued by the Cabinet secretary responsible for the ministry, supporting schedules, and other documents instead reflect confidential expenditure totalling only Sh385.6 million for the year. No documentation was provided to support the expenditure gaps.
Another audit report indicated that the Office of the President spent more than Sh2.7 billion in the three years to June 2016 from a secret account that is plagued by irregular documentation. Some goods bought via the confidential budget were not delivered, other expenditures lacked approval documents and the spending not captured in the Ifmis making it difficult for the audit office to understand whether it was lawful and incurred for the intended purpose. Although public finance management regulations allow some confidential expenditure, such expenditure is not shielded from the scrutiny of audit or proper documentation.
Review of confidential expenditure is definitely necessary to avoid rampant wastage and plunder of scarce public resources. Immediate action is required to bring to account state departments that may be working to undermine lawful audit of their finances. Most importantly, lack of decisive action on audit findings means that culprits always get away it. This eggs on the thieving public servants to continue fattening their pockets while service delivery deteriorates. It is therefore imperative that state officials submit their financial dealings for review by the auditor-general in line with the law.
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