Governors in for tough times and strict guidelines

By John Oywa

NAIROBI,KENYA: After weeks of harsh verbal exchanges with senior state officials over transition issues, the 47 County governors now face their toughest challenge ever — managing the billions already wired to their county accounts.

The governors, their deputies and office aides are already on the state radar and could be working their way to prisons, should they fall into the temptations that have seen many of their counterparts in other countries handed long jail terms for abuse of office.

The Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, the Auditor General, the Controller of Budget and the Procurement Oversight Authority have all read riot acts to the county bosses, warning that their activities were already being closely monitored.

After failing to force the treasury to withdraw the stringent centralised financial management system, the governors will now have to account for every penny from the exchequer and locally collected revenue.

In vain

The governor had during an induction course in Naivasha last week tried in vain to convince the treasury to allow them use their own systems of financial reporting and accounting arguing that the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) was cumbersome.

The controller of Budget, Agnes Odhiambo told the governors there would be no short cuts in the transfer of the 15 per cent of the total national revenue from the exchequer to their accounts.

“There will be no short cut and there will be no politics. No money shall be transferred from the consolidated account to the county accounts without my consent. This is what the constitution says,” said Ms Odhiambo.

She says the funds being transferred to county government from the consolidated fund to the Central Bank from where it will be delivered to the revenue accounts of respective counties.

From here, the funds will be wired to the county’s operational accounts for use by the counties.

In fact Article 201 (3) of the constitution states: “Money shall not be withdrawn from the revenue funds unless the Controller of the Budget has approved the withdrawal.
Act of Parliament

This rule can only be bent by an Act of Parliament that may make further provisions for the withdrawal of funds from the revenue fund. Governors can also lobby for an Act of Parliament to allow them to establish and manage other funds.

The county government would only get their allocations every financial year upon submission of their development plans.

But the governors, speakers and clerks to county assemblies are unhappy with what they term a bureaucratic system of chanelling funds to their county governments.

They argue that the counties were autonomous and should be allowed to manage their finances without interferences from the central government. The counties have been allocated an initial Sh9.8 billion to help them start off the county governments.

The governors have bitterly opposed attempts by the Treasury and the Transition Authority to guide them in budgeting for the money, saying they should be left alone to spend the money on their prioritised projects.

In a dramatic show of might, the governors walked out of an induction conference at a Naivasha resort last week protesting what they termed as frustrations by the national government.

But a warning by the Auditor and Controller General, Edward Ouko must have sent shivers down their spines.

Mr Ouko said his office would closely monitor the use of tax payers’ money and that the counties would have to account for every single penny spent.

“We will jealously safeguard Wanjiku’s money. My office will devolve to the county levels to ensure the public resources are well taken care of,” said Mr Ouko.

He added: “I will report to the National Assembly and the Senate every year on how counties have spent their funds. There will be no room for misappropriation and everyone handling devolved funds should heed this.”
Mr Ouko said the counties will also ensure physical accountability of resources within their mandates including assets.

Financial management experts who asked not to be named because he is engaged on a government consultancy told The County Weekly some governors may attempt to defy the strict financial management guidelines and were likely to be prosecuted.

“Many of the governors saw their offices as opportunities to make wealth but they will be shocked,” he said.

The Vice Chairperson of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Irene Keino said they have already put measures to catch corrupt governors and their officers.

“We have opened files for all of you. We are monitoring how you are managing integrity issues. Kindly don’t be tempted to break the law because we will come for you,” she said.

She advised the governors to be wary of conflicts of interest while handling procurements and other management issues.

She gave an example of Nigeria where more than half of the governors were once hauled to prison over corruption. Mr Ouko said procurement was likely to be the biggest challenge for the governors and asked them to follow the law.

The Controller and Auditor General said the complex and bureaucratic procurement rules may frustrate development in the Counties.

“Procurement will be the biggest challenge. Already, procurement is frustrating development in the central government. I can’t imagine what will happen for the 47 county governments. It will require a lot of consultation,” he said.

But Jones Juma, the director general of the Public Procurement Oversight Authority says plans were under way to establish e-procurement program to simplify and expedite procurement process in public offices.