Have you ever tried fetching water with a basket? Of course you haven’t because it would be a waste of time and water in the most foolish and self-defeating way possible!
In Africa, we keep using corruption to fetch livelihoods! Kenya loses 250,000 jobs annually due to corruption — is this sustainable? This is why the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) is a critical cornerstone to government operations and national growth.
IFMIS is implemented by the National Treasury as a system of public financial management for National Government ministries, departments and agencies as well as the County Governments. In other words, IFMIS patches up the public finance basket so that it can retain public funds and ensure their optimal usage.
As a tool of financial governance, IFMIS aids the government to efficiently run the country and also seals corruption avenues by facilitating operation of single treasury accounts directly from the Central Bank. By ensuring all funds are drawn from the same well, IFMIS makes it difficult for any public servant to manipulate the system and re-channel funds, however small.
However, best tools can be rendered impotent if they are perceived and used wrongly. For some, the long arm of the national government uses IFMIS to probe into county funds and in the process interfere with otherwise independent finances. Nonetheless, this is not the case because there are 48 governments in Kenya and it is up to each of these governments to use IFMIS as a standardised tool of financial management.
It would be self-defeating to seal loopholes of financial mismanagement at the national government and not do the same at the county governments or vice versa. The hard earned money of Kenyans should never be wasted because an individual somewhere doesn’t distinguish between a public wallet and a private wallet. In essence, IFMIS protects the public wallet.
Despite these strong points, IFMIS is not the silver bullet that will slay corruption. Like an automobile, IFMIS must be fuelled through enabling infrastructure like fibre connectivity in all the 47 counties. Just as important, all public officials should embrace it as an obligation and not just a preference.
Like all tools and platforms, teething problems or technical glitches shouldn’t be used as an excuse of giving IFMIS a cold shoulder. Do you stop using ATMS despite their occasional downtimes?
The vast majority of Kenyans who are not public servants should also understand IFMIS so that they can demand accountability from public officials. Indeed, integrity and efficiency are key tenets of a sustainable society. Finally, any step, just like IFMIS, that takes us closer to paperless operations is good for the environment! Think green, act green!
The writer is the founder and chairperson, Green Africa Foundation and and runs a blog on conservation—www.isaackalua.com
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