В Кении вступил в силу закон о штрафах для чиновников, игнорирующих рекомендации аудиторов

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 9 – Accounting officers who fail to implement recommendations adopted by Parliament or county assemblies following reports by the Auditor-General and Controller of Budget could face penalties under a new law. This is contained in the new Public Finance Management Act, which was assented to by President William Ruto yesterday. Failure to implement parliamentary or county assembly resolutions is currently not among the offences listed under the Public Finance Management Act. The proposed changes are part of broader efforts to strengthen accountability, transparency and prudent management of public resources, particularly in devolved units. The Bill also proposes to reduce the period within which public entities must submit their financial statements after the end of a financial year from three months to two months. The shorter reporting period is expected to give the Office of the Auditor-General more time to conduct audits and prepare the required reports. The Bill further seeks to classify failure or persistent delays in remitting employees’ statutory deductions, including taxes, pensions, social health insurance and cooperative society deductions, as a persistent material breach. The proposed amendments would allow the National Treasury to suspend transfers to a state organ or public entity that commits such a breach. Counties would also be required to submit quarterly information to the Controller of Budget and National Treasury on the status of statutory deductions and any outstanding amounts.