Nancy Gathungu, the Auditor General, has stated that his office is unable to fulfill its mandate on time due to underfunding.
Gathungu stated in a report to the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee that her office has been consistently underfunded over the years, despite its expanded mandate and increased number of public sector entities.
She stated that the office is facing a Sh1.79 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year (2022-2023).
According to Gathungu, the office has been allocated a budget of Sh7.753 billion in the 2023 Budget Policy Statement (comprising of a recurrent budget of Sh7.283 billion and a development budget of Sh469.88 million).
She stated that her office had requested a budget of Sh11.39 billion (comprising of a recurrent requirement of Sh10.34 billion and a development requirement of Sh1.05 billion).
“This leaves the office with a total shortfall of Sh3.64 billion, with recurrent costs of Sh3.06 billion and development costs of Sh580 million,” she explained.
“We are requesting Sh2.5 billion from the Sh3.63 billion shortfall in order to cover additional audit scope and other critical areas of our operations.”
Gathungu reiterated that the shortfall has hampered their work and that they cannot fully confirm the lawfulness or effectiveness of the remaining public sector entities’ use of public funds for the fiscal year 2021/2022 in accordance with constitutional requirements.
