ICPAK must champion migrating the government from cash accounting to accrual accounting because modern and transparent accounting is where the anti-corruption war should start.
I am a big supporter of strong and well-managed professional and business associations. Indeed, private sector associations of professionals in this country have historically played a key role in putting pressure on the State to pass market-friendly policies.
So, when I met Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) Chairman Philip Kaikai, this week, the first thing I wanted to gauge from the seasoned accountant was a new sense of vision and mission, an indication of preparedness to take the 40,000-member association of accountants to the next level, especially in the areas of public policy advocacy and public interest litigation.
I wanted to engage him on the vexed issue of creative accounting, the state of enforcing quality standards and disciplining of errant accountants and auditors.
I also wanted to ask Kakai why ICPAK has been taking a low profile and staying away from being enjoined in public interest cases even where the issues being litigated had a bearing on its domain areas of accounting and finance.
Today’s typical accountant and auditor in this country projects the mindset of a conservative fellow obsessed with penny-pinching and the pursuit of shareholder value.
Although accountants and auditors have increasingly become influential on public policy issues, the oldies still see themselves not as risk takers but as bean counters and risk managers.
What strikes you when you meet and debate with Mr Kakai is a strong desire and vision to move the association beyond its customary role of limiting itself to public commentary on taxation proposals on Budget Day and on public debt and public spending issues.
He is passionate in his view that the institute is poised to become one of the leading voices on policy choices in areas such as accounting reform in the public sector.
Mr Kaikai also strikes you as a man with deep domain knowledge of the subject matter, a solid grasp of the essentials and a deep appreciation of the pressing issues of the day.
When you read through recent publications, including the new strategic plan, what you see is an association of citizens that has sharply defined and carefully limited the things it wants to achieve in the short term.
And it is not just a matter of platitudes. Today, ICPAK publishes a review of financial statements for county governments and assemblies, which it promptly tables before relevant parliamentary oversight committees.
The institute has been supporting the Senate Committee on Finance and Planning in interrogating audit reports by the Auditor-General.
The cooperation with the Senate went to another level when the institute recently announced that it would establish a permanent liaison office at the Senate and National Assembly.
During our conversation, Mr Kakai admitted that despite the fact that the public sector is way larger than the private sector, the institute had tended to ignore standards and quality issues in the public sector.
He said laws and regulations have tended to concentrate on regulating the practice in the private sector.
Whether Mr Kakai and the team of council members will deliver on the transition and change they are pursuing remains to be seen.
My impression from my interaction with him last week was that he has approached the assignment with fire in his belly and has the attitude and mind to deliver.
More than ever before, this country needs strong associations of professionals of private sector business to continue piling pressure on the State to steer away from policies that imperil macroeconomic stability.
The Constitution we have came up with big spending departments. We created big county governments without a proper and working public finance regime.
ICPAK must champion migrating the government from cash accounting to accrual accounting because modern and transparent accounting is where the anti-corruption war should start.
In February 2020, the National Treasury-based Public Sector Accounting Standards Board even came up with a road map with an effective date of the migration of July 2021. But because of resistance by the bureaucracy, there has been little progress.
The migration process will need a high-profile champion such as ICPAK operating outside the National Treasury. The migration will have a better chance of success if the task is spearheaded by an outsider with unprejudiced eyes and without links to the status quo.
The writer is former managing editor at The EastAfrican
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