Ministries fail to account for extra funds received for projects

Ministries fail to account for extra funds received for projects.

By JAMES ANYAZWA

Kenya: The Office of the Controller of Budget has raised the alarm over failure by Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to account for internally generated funds they use to finance their development projects.

Some of the MDAs in the spotlight include the transport and information sector, which spent a colossal Sh4.6 billion against a Treasury release of Sh700 million, while Education, Science and Technology spent Sh25.8 billion against Sh20 billion allocated.

Others include Defence, which spent Sh16.6 billion against an allocation of Sh14.7 billion, Environment, Water and Natural Resources, which spent Sh2.3 billion against Sh2.1 billion released by the Treasury and the mining sector, which spent Sh30 million against an allocation of Sh10 million.

Land, Housing and Urban Development spent Sh900 million against Sh500 million it got from Treasury while the Witness Protection Authority spent Sh40 million despite having not been allocated any funds.

The revelations come amid growing suspicions over Sh797 million found to have been over-spent on payments of debt, pensions and salaries for constitutional office holders.

Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo (pictured) said incomplete expenditure returns by the MDAs affected the smooth implementation of the budget during the first three months (July-September) of the 2013/2014 financial year.

Mrs Odhiambo noted that a number of MDAs had more expenditure than the funds allocated to them from Treasury  during the period under review.

Complete information

This, she said, has been attributed to spending resources realised through Appropriation in Aid (A-in-A).

“However, financial reports submitted to the Controller of Budget do not provide complete information on how much is collected as A-in-A,” said Odhiambo.

She added: “Failure to disclose A-in-A affects the accuracy of the expenditure reports. To ensure accuracy of the quarterly financial reports, MDAs should report all A-in-A collected during the period,” she said.

According to the Office of the Controller of Budget’s Budget Implementation Review Report (First Quarter 2013/2014), the 2013/14 financial year started on a low note, with MDAs facing delays in the release of funds by the National Treasury.

The delay in the disbursement of funds was occasioned by the re-organisation in the Government that saw the number of ministries reduced from 42 to 18.

The situation was further exacerbated by the delay in appointments of accounting officers in the various ministries and opening of bank accounts for the restructured ministries.

“Additionally, counties did not receive their allocations on time due to the delay in the enactment of the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2013 (CARA), which became effective on August 26, 2013, two months into the first quarter, and some delayed submitting their balanced budgets,” the report says.

According to the report, the total amount of money released by Treasury for development activities during the first quarter (July-September) of the current financial year was Sh35.6 billion.

The total amount released to the counties during a similar period stood at Sh 32.9 billion, representing 17.3 per cent of the total net estimates of unconditional grant for the counties from the national government.