Nancy Onyango, Faith Odhiambo among team appointed to audit public debt

President William Ruto has appointed Nancy Onyango to chair an independent task force for auditing Kenya's public debt, aiming to provide clarity on its nature and management.

In a gazette notice dated July 5, Ruto announced that Onyango will lead the audit of public debt.

She will be deputised by Prof Luis Franceschi, with support from four additional members including Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo, Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK) Chairperson Philip Kaikai, Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) President Vincent Kimosop, and Shammah Kiteme.

The task force is to begin its work immediately and will serve for three months.

The team's responsibilities include verifying the current stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt, reconciling loan proceeds with the intended appropriations, and ensuring that loan servicing aligns with the terms of the facilities.

They will also evaluate whether the country obtained value for money regarding loan terms, project costs, and returns on investment.

Additionally, the task force will assess the adequacy of the public finance management (PFM) framework's safeguards on debt management and recommend improvements to strengthen the governance of the nation's public debt management system.

President Ruto has also appointed Abraham Rugo and Aaron Thegeya to be joint secretaries of the task force.

The Secretariat will be based at the Ministry of National Treasury and Economic Planning.

The appointments come amid public outcry over government expenditure and debt management.

Ruto announced the taskforce earlier on Friday, during a State of the Nation address at State House, Nairobi.