Budget office now given enforcement powers in new law

Conptroler of budget Agnes Odhiambo mark the fourth UN International Day of the Girl Child during National Herstory Summit at Kenya Institute of Curriculm Development on Tuesday, Oct 11, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

A new law has given the Controller of Budget the powers to ensure compliance to budgetary ceilings.

This sets the stage for a tug-of-war between this office and national and county governments.

Besides its broad constitutional role of ensuring that the budget is well implemented, the office, led by Agnes Odhiambo, will also ensure that both national and county governments stick to budgetary ceilings as set by Parliament.

“The Controller of Budget shall ensure prudent and efficient use of public funds by enforcing budgetary ceilings by Parliament on national and county government expenditure,” reads the Controller of Budget Act 2016.

It is not clear how this role will reconcile with the need for the Government to supplement its budget when the need arises. Neither Treasury nor the Office of Controller of Budget was immediately available to explain how the latter will “enforce” budgetary ceilings. However, the law is harsh on those who refuse to co-operate with the Controller of Budget.

“A public officer who refuses or fails to cooperate with the Controller of Budget as required by this section commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million shillings, or to both,” reads part of the law.

John Mutua, an economist with the Institute of Economic Affairs, agreed that it is going to be quite a challenge for the Controller of Budget to enforce budgetary ceilings.

“As the budget is being implemented in the course of the year, there could be one or two reasons that the Government is seeking additional funds,” said Mutua, noting that in such a situation the Government is forced to seek additional funds through a supplementary budget.

“On one hand, they may have done a good job in terms of ensuring that when you are revising the budget you stick to the ceilings,” said Mutua, adding that ministries might also be in need of additional funding in certain circumstances such as in the current drought situation.

BURSTING THEIR LIMITS

The Office of Controller of Budget is one of the independent financial institutions tasked with ensuring prudent management of public funds. The other is the office of the Auditor General.

According to the Constitution, the Controller of Budget oversees the implementation of the budgets of the national and county governments by authorising withdrawals from public funds. However, in the new Act, the office has also been tasked with ensuring that ministries, departments, agencies and county governments do not over-spend.

It is not very clear how the controller of budget will enforce this role. In most of its reports, the office of Controller of Budget has castigated ministries and counties for bursting their budgetary limits.

The law, which had been opposed by a section of legislators and governors, also comes up with structures of the office of controller of budget including qualifications and appointment of Deputy of Controller Budget, among others.