LSK declines participation in ‘wasteful’ Debt Audit Taskforce » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 6 — The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President and Members will not participate in the Debt Audit Taskforce which it has described as a waste of scarce public resources.
In a statement on Saturday, LSK CEO Florence Muturi urged the National Treasury to work with the Auditor General, the office constitutionally mandated to perform the proposed task.
“It is essential not to squander scarce public resources by appointing a Presidential Taskforce to perform duties of existing public offices,” Muturi said.
LSK’s response followed President William Ruto’s appointment of an eight-member Presidential Taskforce on Forensic Audit of Public Debt on Friday to audit the country’s public debt citing mounting concerns from the public.
Muturi added that the Office on Public Debt Management, headed by a Director-General at the Treasury should provide details of public debt to the Auditor-General for forensic audit.
The President said that the task force will serve for three months with effect July 5.
Ruto named Nancy Onyango as the Chairperson and Luis Franceschi as the Vice Chairperson.
Others appointed include Philip Kaikai from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Institute of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) President Shammah Kiteme, and Vincent Kimosop.
He also appointed Abraham Rugo and Aaron Thegeya as joint secretaries.
‘Independent’ audit
Ruto mandated the team to scrutinize various aspects of the country’s public debt including verifying the current stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt, reconciling loan proceeds with their intended appropriations, and assessing the alignment of loan servicing with the terms of the loans.
Further, the task force will evaluate the value for money obtained from the debt, focusing on the terms of the loans, the cost of the financed projects, the return on investment, and inter-generational equity.
Additionally, they will assess the adequacy of the public finance management (PFM) framework and recommend improvements to strengthen the governance of the nation’s debt management system.
Ruto disclosed that the team will explore alternative financing sources for Kenya’s development needs in the short and medium term and devise potential debt reorganization plans.
The Head of State made the announcement even as he noted the implication of the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 which he noted resulted in the reduction of the country’s revenue targets by Sh346 billion.
Ruto disclosed that the Treasury had assessed the impact of either reducing the budget by the entire Sh346 billion or borrowing the full amount
He added that the government has since struck a “middle ground” and will be proposing to the National Assembly a budget cut of Sh177 billion and borrow the difference.
“The additional borrowing will increase our fiscal deficit from 3.3 per cent to 4.6 per cent and will be used to protect the funding of critical government services,” Ruto said.
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