Three women hold Kenya's fate as debt audit calls

As President William Ruto ponders ways to quell public anger over his administration’s faults, the spotlight shines on three women who have, inadvertently or otherwise, helped fuel that rage.

Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o, and Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson Lyn Mengich have shared the limelight in recent weeks, with Kenyans highlighting their work in calling out wastage and corruption.

Although they have previously faced accusations of sleeping on the job, the trio has largely been lauded for helping guard against the government’s excesses.

Ms Gathungu and Dr Nyakang’o have consistently produced reports that exposed the systemic rot in the State, with Ms Mengich often standing up to the greed of lawmakers, who are always itching for a pay rise. 

Their roles have come into sharp focus amid the anti-tax revolt by Generation Zs and Millennials.

Mengich was under fire this past week for a 2023 gazette notice that announced pay increments for State officers, which was to take effect as of July 1, the start of the current financial year.

Amid mounting public pressure, the SRC boss dropped the salary review. By the time she did, lawmakers made spirited efforts to distance themselves from the pay increments.

“There are things that almost look like a setup. We are in a crisis and SRC is proposing an increment of S14,000,” said Lang’ata Member of Parliament Felix Odiwuor, alias Jalang’o.

The proposed increments were met with fury, partly because President Ruto had announced budget cuts for critical sectors after withdrawing the Finance Bill, 2024.

It angered Kenyans that Members of Parliament (MPs) were due for a raise when the government said it could not afford to pay intern doctors and junior secondary school teachers.

It did not make sense that demands for austerity were met with more extravagance.

Mengich has been in such a spot before. Since her appointment in 2018, she has faced criticism for blocking increments for employees in the public sector. 

Workers’ unions view her as an impediment to better terms, faulting her for being subservient to the government of the day. Indeed, she has come in the way of better deals for many workers’ unions.

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli has consistently termed the SRC the “greatest impediment” to better welfare terms for workers, arguing that the body had moved from its advisory role to an implementing one.

Existing CBA

Two months ago, Mengich termed pay demands by striking doctors “unfair”, proposing a slash on the salaries for intern doctors, against an existing collective bargaining agreement.

Clinical officers, currently on a strike that has lasted more than three months, have been unable to reach a deal with government, with several quarters blaming the SRC. 

Mengich, a human resource professional, has also attracted praise for her work, especially when rejecting attempts by MPs to increase their pay. Lawmakers have previously scolded her for scrapping excess benefits, threatening to slash her office’s budget as they demanded higher salaries.

Her role promises to be more critical in the future, especially in helping to fulfill demands by Gen Zs and Millennials to cap salaries, such as those of MPs, at Sh200,000.

Equally critical will be Gathungu. On Friday, the President announced he had formed a task force to audit Kenya’s public debt, which included Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo.

The LSK has since rejected Ms Odhiambo’s appointment and the task force itself, affirming that the Auditor General is responsible for auditing public debt.

Appointed in 2020, Gathungu has faced criticism for failing to conduct forensic audits, which falls under her mandate. The Auditor General has not published any forensic audit report on her office’s website.

She, too, has been lauded for exposing corruption within the government and exposing the unsustainability of Kenya’s public debt.

At the height of the anti-government protests, Gathungu’s revelations of plunder involving national insurance claims, donated fertiliser and smart driving licenses, among others, helped build the anger against Ruto’s administration on social media. 

Controller of Budget (CoB) Nyakang’o, charged with overseeing the implementation of national and county budgets, has also kept the nation informed about wastage in the government.

Her report highlighting expenditures of the first nine months of the current financial year exposed government officials to their itchy feet, with the State spending Sh18 billion in domestic and foreign travel.

Since she assumed office in 2019, the CoB has raised alarm over unnecessary expenditures, warning of the exploitation of legal lacunas that allow the government to spend beyond their budget.

Nyakang’o has exposed Kenya’s public debt as being suspect, stating that much of the borrowed funds cannot be traced to any project.

But she has been faulted for allowing controversial withdrawals from the fund, that she could have stopped courtesy of her position.

Her role into the ongoing conversation mostly fits in ensuring that Ruto walks his talk on austerity within the government. Kenyans have raised concerns over Kenya Kwanza’s extravagance and the display of opulence by Ruto’s allies.

“In Nancy Gathungu and Margaret Nyakang’o, Kenya has powerful forces who can make things work on matters of fiscal spending. They have exposed serious gaps in our public finance management and those responsible should take them seriously,” an X user, Abuga Makori, posted yesterday.

Certified fraud analyst Bernard Muchere says the Auditor General and CoB could do more to ensure the prudent use of public funds.

“They have failed us totally. The objective of creating the Office of the Auditor General is to safeguard public money by auditing public accounts,” says Muchere.

“The reports by the Auditor General, over the years, do not meet the constitutional threshold because the Constitution requires her to tell us whether public funds were utilised lawfully and effectively. In all her reports, she says ‘I cannot confirm’ yet she should just check whether the expenditures were in the budget,” argues Mr Muchere.

His assessment of the CoB is equally critical, arguing that Nyakang’o has failed in her job of managing the consolidated fund as the law requires her to.

“She can only authorise withdrawals that are budgeted for. When she tells us that counties opened many accounts, she is admitting that she failed because no money can be withdrawn from the counties revenue account without her authorisation,” says Muchere.