Accounting officers face penalties for ignoring audit recommendations
Failure to implement parliamentary or county assembly resolutions is currently not among the offences listed under the Public Finance Management Act.
Nairobi, Kenya – The Public Finance Management (Amendment) (No. 4) Bill, 2024, recently passed by President William Ruto, introduces penalties for accounting officers who disregard audit recommendations from Parliament or county assemblies. This is a significant change, as such penalties were not previously included in the Public Finance Management Act.
The Bill aims to enhance accountability, transparency, and prudent management of public resources, particularly in devolved units. In addition to the penalty provisions, the Bill also proposes to shorten the time frame for submitting financial statements from three months to two months. This shorter reporting period is intended to provide the Auditor-General with more time to conduct audits and prepare necessary reports.
Furthermore, the Bill seeks to treat persistent delays in remitting statutory deductions, such as taxes, pensions, social health insurance, and cooperative society contributions, as a material breach. If an entity commits this breach, the National Treasury will have the power to suspend transfers to that state organ or public entity.
Counties will also be mandated to provide quarterly updates to the Controller of Budget and National Treasury regarding the status of statutory deductions and any outstanding amounts.
Written by urgent.news from Capital Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
