Audit exposes civil servants’ mismanagement of millions in imprests across ministries

 


A recent audit review has revealed extensive mismanagement of imprests by government officials, with millions of shillings still unaccounted for across various ministries and departments.

  The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) indicates that this issue has persisted for several years, despite ongoing warnings from the Auditor-General and Parliament. As per the Public Audit Review Report for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (2020–2023), the inability of officers to return or account for cash advances allocated for official duties remains one of the most significant weaknesses in government financial management. The report indicates that in numerous instances, imprests were either retained long after the completion of official assignments or lacked any supporting documentation. David Njoka, Chair of ICPAK’s Ad Hoc Committee on Public Audits, stated that the review uncovered concerning trends where officers continued to request multiple imprests before settling previous ones. “The Public Finance Management Act clearly stipulates that one must return or account for the imprest within seven days of completing official duties. However, our review identified cases where a single officer held as many as six separate imprests simultaneously, with delays or missing surrenders,” Njoka remarked. The Ministry of Health was highlighted for retaining significant amounts in unretired imprests and long-overdue deposits. Likewise, the Ministry of Education reported ongoing misstatements and absent documents related to funds allocated for Free Primary and Free Day Secondary Education programs. In the financial year 2022/23, missing records and unverified disbursements totaled hundreds of millions of shillings. Njoka emphasized that this issue is not limited to a single sector, noting that similar patterns are observed across key ministries, including Roads and the National Treasury. “The problem lies not only in policy but also in enforcement. Officers continue to disregard financial procedures without facing any repercussions,” he stated.

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