MCAs want NMS to account for Sh27.1 billion

NMS Director General Mohammed Badi

NAIROBI, KENYA: Members of County Assemblies have put the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) on notice for failure to submit quarterly reports over the expenditure of funds allocated by City Hall for the past nine months.

The city assembly now wants the Mohammed Badi-led institution to appear before the different assembly committees to answer queries regarding the expenditure of funds as is required by law.

Nairobi County Assembly Budget and Appropriation committee chairperson Robert Mbatia said that with already nine months into the current financial year ending June 30, 2021, NMS is yet to submit quarterly budgetary reports in line with the provisions of the Deed of Transfer of Functions and the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA).

In the current financial year, NMS was allocated Sh27.1 billion to run the ceded functions namely Health, Transport, Public works and planning.

Mbatia explains that the reports were critical in the budget-making process but was concerned that the delay in submission of the reports was a set back to the budget committee which made it hard for the MCAs to understand how the funds allocated for each sector have been utilised.

Notably, officers from NMS have been appearing before the Senate where they have been responding to queries on expenditure.

“As much as NMS is under the Office of the President, we are following the law as per the Deed of transfer and CARA, 2020. NMS should therefore furnish the committee with a breakdown of utilisation of funds allocated to it for the current financial year,” said Mbatia.

The chairperson further observed that the tenets of the Public Finance Management Act call for financial accountability as well as resource allocation accountability.

“This also means as the assembly we can summon NMS officers when we have queries and need their input. This is part of our oversight mandate,” stated Mbatia.

The Mbatia-led budget committee now wants the County Treasury and NMS to henceforth ensure that budget estimates submitted for approval are classified by respective sectors (functions).

Further, the committee wants the County Treasury to ensure that by April 30, 2021, it submits to the County Assembly for noting, together with the annual budget estimates for the financial year ending June 30, 2022, the list of the pending bills per sector for each of the transferred functions.