The Treasury is on the spot for holding onto Sh9.7 billion meant to fight the Covid-19 pandemic even as Kenyans brace for a new spike in infections, a State audit show.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says the Treasury has not utilised a coin from the Sh9.7 billion accumulated under the Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund that was set up two years ago.
The Fund was created at the high of the pandemic in March 2020 following the detection of the first case to alleviate the effects of Covid-19.
The idle billions stashed in Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund was meant for Covid-19 interventions including human medicine, medical equipment, medical consumables, medical protective gear, quarantine facilities, testing kits, food, logistics, water, electricity and disposal bins.
The Fund was aimed at fostering national response to successfully contain the spread, effects and impact of Covid-19 to Kenyans and in particular the most vulnerable members of society. “Although the Fund has been in existence for two years, with total accumulated receipts of Sh9,700,586,977, no expenditure has been incurred since inception of the Fund,” Ms Gathungu said.
“This is despite the fact that the Fund was created to alleviate the effects of the rampaging Covid-19 pandemic.”
Ms Gathungu said the idle cash (Sh9.3 billion) is being held at the Central Bank of Kenya while Sh6.98 million is held at the National Bank of Kenya (NBK).
“The Fund has therefore been an accumulation of non-interest earning funds,” Ms Gathungu said in an audit of the Treasury books of accounts for 2020/21.
She said in the circumstances, the fund has not achieved its objective of minimising effects of coronavirus as envisaged.
“These funds did not realise value for money as the resources remain held idle while the citizens suffer from the scourge,” Ms Gathungu said.
The revelations come at a time Kenya is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 infections with the positivity rate hitting 12.5 percent on Friday.
Kenya’s total caseload stood at 328,000 with 5,651 deaths since the pandemic struck.
The government is working towards vaccinating a targeted population of 27,246,033 but had administered a total of 18,523,074 vaccines across the country as at Friday.
Ms Gathungu also flagged the Treasury’s failure to put in place a board to manage the multi-billion shillings’ fund.
She said the fund has existed without a properly constituted board to it as required by the Public Finance Management (Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund) Regulations, 2020.
Ms Gathungu said management indicated that there exists a similar Fund under the office of the President with a fully constituted board and whose roles and mandate are similar to the Fund being run by the Treasury.
There were two funds established at the height of the pandemic as the country scrambled to contain coronavirus spread.
The government, through legal notice number 38 of 2020 set up the Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund as a national response through the provision of medical equipment, medical consumables, protective gear, testing kits and quarantine facilities in an effort to contain the spread, effects and impact of coronavirus among its citizens. This Fund was financed through taxpayer cash.
The second fund, Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund Board, comprising largely of the private sector members was appointed pursuant to a press release issued at State House and not through legal notice number 38 of 2020.
The board was registered as a limited liability company and spent Sh1.3 billion that was raised to fight coronavirus.
Kenya Breweries Ltd managing director Jane Karuku was the chairperson of the 12-member board.
