Plunder of resources a national problem

The report by the Auditor General this week revealed that the Office of the President had a ‘slush’ fund of over Sh8 billion that could not be properly accounted for. That’s a pretty serious affair that ought to have got the President coming out with some action furiously. Well, he didn’t and as so often happens in Nairobi, the story will die soon and if we are lucky with a pledge that government will take action.

The Auditor General also revealed that hundreds of millions of CDF money could not be properly accounted for. This fund is managed de facto by the constituency MPs, which means they ought to be held accountable for its loss. For all the credit MPs would usually brag about its prudent utilisation, CDF audit annually reveals massive misappropriation in some constituencies. Since its inception, no more than a couple of MPs have been charged in court on these losses. Again, as so often happens, the story will soon be history.

In both cases above, the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee will interrogate the Auditor General’s report, which will invariably be adopted by the House. Its recommendation will likely get little or no reaction from the Treasury, Director of Public Prosecutions or the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. It’s a routine so common over the years that hardly any action follows from the concerned players at the national level.

There is a new kid on the block too, called the county government. The promoters of this new system of government did not plan to sambaza a piece of the Nairobi action to the grassroots. Certainly not! Devolution was an attempt to get a piece of these monies Nairobi plunders to the grassroots so that a new team of players elected directly by the people will put it to good use, and so enhance service delivery and tangible development.

The county assemblies are starting off in the same fashion as the MPs. Except for the occasional committee investigation, they are largely indifferent to the misuse and plunder of resources by some county executives. Unlike MPs who continuously poke their noses into every major state deal when they smell a rat, the MCAs have chosen an alternative route — ask for their own funds and let the county bosses do their thing! They want ward funds similar to CDF which they will manage de facto, and a huge budget to help them live large like MPs.

County Assemblies will receive nearly Sh16 billion this financial year to finance their recurrent expenditure that is bloated to whet their rising taste for opulence. A county assembly had Sh269 million budgeted for its entertainment, while another had Sh78 million for tea!

The Controller of Budget demanded that the assemblies revise their budgets in line with a budget ceiling on recurrent expenditure recommended by the Commission on Revenue Allocation. Few have complied; they chose to go to courts to challenge this directive.

The situation isn’t any better among the county executives. Our hospital workers have been on strike, demanding salaries and better work environment. When counties did their budgets last year, I warned them at a forum of county finance teams organised by National Treasury that health services risk collapse because most counties significantly under budgeted for health. This is a function fully devolved that requires adequate resources to enhance service delivery. Whatever little money was allocated to the sector was later used to finance infrastructure, buildings and ambulances at the expense of drugs, consumables and human resources.

But while health departments continued to suffer in the counties, the same governments generously donated over Sh1 billion to the Council of Governors secretariat in Nairobi to finance their pet political activity — referendum! Each county contributed Sh22 million, diverting resources from essential services to fund their belligerence. Millions more were contributed earlier to finance the court cases they filed against impeachment of Embu governor.

Regrettably, the plunder of national resources has become our national pastime.