County governments' obsession with multiple bank accounts alarming

This week, the Comptroller of Budget Margret Nyakang’o again raised a red flag regarding the unusual and irregular number of accounts that county governments are running during the first quarter of the 2024-25 Financial Year.

The report comes months after a similar finding that Bungoma County had 352 commercial accounts. It now has 52 less than the previous figure. Baringo County runs 292 bank accounts, with the majority being earmarked for health facilities. Other counties have been flagged for using manual payment for personal emoluments.

According to the Controller of Budget, the situation makes it harder for government audit offices to track the use of money, making counties susceptible to embezzlement of funds, which can be described as a white-collar crime in which a person or entity intentionally misappropriates the resources entrusted to them lawfully. Embezzlement is a breach of fiduciary responsibility that has sadly been normalised in Kenya.

During the same period, Busia, Narok, and Kirinyaga were commended for spending most of their county funds on development, with others being blamed for low collections and spending very little on development. Another murky issue that needs to be addressed is the continued accumulation of pending bills by the county administrations, which raises serious questions about prudent public funds management, which flies in the face of laws and regulations of public finance management and public procurement.

Section 53 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act requires accounting officers to ensure there are enough funds in the coffers before contracting, which is rarely the case as counties have been accused of green-lighting unbudgeted and untenable expenditures not based on proper planning.

This exacerbates the pending bills' issue, especially if a new administration comes into office as they tend to distance themselves from payments and priorities of the previous regimes while drafting their own list of preferred suppliers.

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When Kenyans gave themselves a new Constitution in 2010, they chose devolution to bring power, resources, and services closer to the people, allowing for flexibility and innovation in governance. Kenyans assumed that because these things are being exercised in a more localised setting, it would translate to better decision-making and improved public services based on the realities and priorities on the ground.

However, poor governance, lack of prioritisation of development, and vital service delivery such as healthcare have bedevilled county governments. For instance, although a lot of money is budgeted for healthcare, which is a devolved function, governors have tended to divert funds and are unwilling to hire adequate healthcare workers.

What can be done to finally have county governments prudently spend their resources well while offering vital services for the residents, especially concerning healthcare? Like any other public officer, county governors and other senior officers are bound by public finance management and procurement laws.

Any breach of these laws requires robust investigations by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and thorough prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions to secure convictions by the Judiciary and hopefully act as a deterrent to this theft.

Furthermore, Parliament, especially the Senate, is mandated to represent the counties and protect their interests, as per Article 96 of the Constitution. For clarity, the representation of counties and their interests is primarily geared towards ensuring that the citizen, who is the sovereign, reaps the benefit of devolution.

Part of this must be specific law-making: First, capping the number of accounts a county government can open and operate; second, dealing with pending bills; and third, looking into processes leading to procurement and payments. For too long, we have read reports by the Auditor General and Controller of Budget without any concrete actions regarding legal policy changes and new impetus on investigation and prosecution.