Controller of Budgets says gaps in law affect execution of mandate

 Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o when she appeared before the National Assembly Finance Committee at Bunge Towers, Nairobi on August 2, 2024. [File, Standard] 

The Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakango has cited budgetary constraints and gaps in law that prevent her from auditing government projects as a hindrance to implementation of her office’s mandate.

Dr Nyakang’o who appeared before the National Assembly Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC), also decried the “discriminatory” salary structure prescribed to her office and a further delay in implementation of the CoB recommendations by accounting officers often presented hurdles in efficient execution of her office’s functions.

She had appeared before the House team to shed light on the extent of the Controller of Budget’s mandate.

“If you look at our Salary structure, we have been discriminated compared to other similar offices in the country…in consultation with the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) the office has developed a salary structure to attract and retain qualified staff. Goodwill and budgetary support are needed for the efficient implementation,” submitted Nyakang’o.

The CoB also told the Gathoni Wamucomba-led committee that legislative gaps in the Controller of Budget Act had over the years made her mandate a herculean task and that there was need to amend the Act.

She singled out Section (4) of the COB Act which she noted fails to recognise a vacancy that a vacancy may arise in the position of of the Controller of Budget when the COB leaves office after the lapse of the prescribed timeline of 8 years.

“Section 9 (4) of the Act should be amended to allow the CoB report on all facets of the budget implementation as envisaged in the constitution. Under the current existing provisions, the CoB is barred from reporting on economic developments and outlook including revenue; grants loans forecasts, and receipts,” stated Nyakango.

The CoB also raised concern over the inclusion of a provision in the Act that prohibits the voiding of payments after the approval for withdrawal of funds issued by the CoB. 
She proposed that the responsibility should be placed on an accounting officer who should ensure that the funds authorised for withdrawal by the CoB are aligned with the schedule of payments supporting the request.

“This will ensure that payments mirror the approval, thus avoiding pending bills and misdirection of funds,” she explained.

The House team further heard that a delay in the development of the CoB regulations following annulment by Senate, were a huge hindrance to the office of the CoB executing its mandate.

“…The reasons advanced by the Senate for the annulment were that the regulations had not fully captured the comments of the National Treasury received after publication of the regulations; the penalties proposed in the regulations were not deterrent enough; the challenges currently being expressed, such as pending Bills were not addressed; and investigative powers contained in part IV of the draft regulations were likely to overlap with investigative powers of other government agencies such as EACC,” noted Nyakango in her submission to the committee.

“The CoB has since developed the draft regulations incorporating the Senate’s views. However, due to budgetary constraints, the CoB has been unable to undertake public participation.”

On dealing with financial constraints, she said that the lack of a Sh20 million budget had impeded on the office’s ability to conduct public participation on the regulations and crippled its monitoring and evaluation roles.

The MPs consequently vowed to initiate a push for a law review to further empower the CoB office.

“……you are not allowed to report on all facets…so it means that when we are building the Standard Gauge Railway you are not allowed to report that? Then why is this office there if it is not allowed to tell us how we spent money on economic development?” posed committee chair Wamucomba.
To which Nyakangó replied in the affirmative.

Committee Vice Chair William Kamket said “I see the office of the Controller of Budget being an institution that was set up to fail from the beginning…we need to give this office more powers to act as opposed to it making reports and waiting for us to adopt them.”

Nyakangó is expected to appear again before the House team on Thursday.