Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has raised concerns over pending bills amounting to Ksh14.5 billion in President William Ruto’s office, citing financial management issues that could affect future budgetary allocations and service delivery.
According to the latest audit report of the year 2023/2024, the pending accounts payable, amounting to Ksh14.5 billion were not settled during the financial year under review and have been carried forward to the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
The report warns that failing to clear these bills within the financial year they were incurred places a burden on subsequent budgets, potentially disrupting planned government programs.
“Note 19.2 to the financial statements reflects the pending accounts payable balance of Kshs14,528,324,070. The balance relates to pending bills that were not settled during the year under review but were instead carried forward to the financial year 2024/2025.
“Failure to settle bills in the year for which they relate adversely affects the implementation of the subsequent year’s budgeted programs as the outstanding bills form a first charge to that year’s budget provision,” the report reads in part.
Budgetary control and performance
Additionally, the audit highlights issues of budget underfunding and underutilization.
According to the report, Ruto’s office received Ksh4.61 billion in actual receipts against a final budget of Ksh5.21 billion, reflecting a shortfall of Ksh604 million, or 12% of the approved budget. Despite this, the office only spent Ksh4.5 billion, leaving Ksh111 million in unutilized funds.
“The statement of comparison of budget and actual amounts reflects the final receipts budget and actual on a comparable basis of Kshs.5,218,414,192 and Kshs.4,614,408,064 respectively, resulting in an under-funding of Kshs.604,006,128 or 12% of the approved budget.
“Similarly, the Office spent a total of Kshs. 4,502,856,289 against actual receipts of Kshs.4,614,408,064 resulting in an under- utilization of Kshs. 111,551,775 of the actual receipts,” the audit report indicated.
The report notes that both the underfunding and underutilization impacted planned activities and could have affected service delivery.
“The under-funding and under-utilization affected the planned activities and programmes of the State Department, which may have impacted negatively on effective service delivery to the public,” the report stated.
Unresolved pending bills
The Auditor General also pointed out unresolved issues from the previous audit concerning project implementation by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services. While these matters were discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, the committee’s recommendations remain unimplemented.
“In the audit report of the previous year, several issues on Project implementation by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services were raised under the Report on Lawfulness and Effectiveness in Use of Public Resources. Although the issues were discussed by the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly, the Committee’s recommendations are still pending,” the Auditor General indicated.
