Parliament probes Treasury over Sh98b misuse

By Steve Mkawale

Parliament has launched investigations into the discrepancies found in the Exchequer Accounts for the financial Year 2007/2008 in which treasury is believed to have misappropriated over Sh98billion.

Gwasi MP John Mbadi, who blew the whistle on the anomaly Thursday, told a joint committee of parliament comprising the Budget and Finance Committees that the Estimate of Revenue declared to parliament in June 2009 for the financial year 2007/2008 did not reflect the actual receipts into the Exchequer Account for the respective Heads and for the same period.

He said while Estimates of Revenue submitted to parliament by Treasury was Sh397billion, the figures in the Auditor General report for the same financial year was Sh496billion, a sharp difference of Sh98billion.

“The amounts should be the same as the one captured by Auditor General Report. The amounts presented to parliament in June 2009 were significantly different from Estimates of Revenue that Treasury presented,” said Mbadi.

Mbadi testified that even the Auditor General had raised his concerns over the lack of attention in the preparation of statements of revenue by treasury in his report that was prepared by May 2009.

The probe followed a directive by House Speaker Kenneth Marende after the Finance Minister Njeru Githae failed to explain revenue discrepancies from 2007 to 2008.

The Speaker ordered the establishment of the Joint Committee Investigation into the Status of Revenue Accounts of the Government of Kenya. 

The Joint Committee is expected to report back to Parliament by June 15 2012.