KENYA NEEDS AN AUDITOR GENERAL NOW!

INSTALL AN AUDITOR GENERAL NOW

By Abala Kinyua

                                                      Pic; Courtesy

It is nearly one year since Edward Ouko retired as the Auditor general of the republic and he is yet to be replacement.

The failure by the president to appoint another auditor general is a spat on his agenda to end corruption in Kenya. It is a sign of government that is not ready to be audited or brought to account.

The office of the Auditor general was created in our constitution and intended to keep check on government expenditures, mismanagement and management of Kenyan tax payers’ money. It therefore doesn’t make any sense that the office should remain vacant for a long time yet the government continues with its expenditure.

On his retirement, the former Auditor general warned that the ongoing audit work would be greatly compromised because there was no substantive auditor general to take over. I strongly believe that the audit work has been compromised greatly.

The government has already read the Kenyan budget for the year 2020/2021 yet we do not have an audit report for the concluded year. How do Kenyans know that their funds for the previous year were well utilized?

It seems the law is not clear on the replacement of an Auditor general. There seems to be a lacuna in the law that fails to guide transition from one auditor general to the next. This may be the reason that led to Ouko leaving office without a substantive successor and there seems to be no process to recruit the next auditor general. This must be addressed immediately.

The lack of an Auditor general or thereof a process to even recruit one, points to a government that is not ready for any auditing or a government that is not ready to account to the Kenyan people on how they use tax payers money.

It has been evidently clear even before Ouko retired that the Jubilee regime was finding it hard to account to the Kenyan people or to be audited. The open attacks on the person of the auditor general by the head of state was an open secret.

The attacks were probably because the auditor general had uncovered too much corruption and wastage of public funds in government and specifically in the executive. The many scandals unearthed by the office of the auditor general could have contributed to the hostilities the office and the auditor general himself received.

Even in his retirement, the former auditor general continues to complain of harassment and attacks. He fears for his life and has no security attached to him despite there being reasons for him to have some.

The office of the auditor general was not created to sing praises to the executive and that is a role that Edward Ouko mastered well. He did his job without fear or favor despite the intimidation and daily attacks.

It is therefore my conviction that the parliament should swing to action immediately to establish a succession process for the office of the auditor general. Having an office with no occupant serves no one neither does it serve justice to the people of Kenya who established the office as their watchdog.

It is important to have an auditor installed immediately to ensure that the governments’ expenditure is put to check. We cannot continue to have a government spending and not being checked.

End.

Abala Kinyua is a political writer, commentator and Digital media consultant