Gender docket on the spot over audit queries, yet again
Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa.
What you need to know:
- The State Department of Gender and Affirmative Action faces scrutiny for the third consecutive year as Auditor General's report highlights financial irregularities and management issues.
- Key concerns include questionable leave payments, uncleared pending bills, budget underutilisation, and improper documentation of donor funds and program expenditures.
- Interestingly, these findings contradict the National Treasury's assessment, which gave the department a clean bill of health for the same financial year.
The State Department of Gender and Affirmative Action has once again found itself under scrutiny following Auditor General Nancy Gathungu's latest report.
For the third consecutive year, Gathungu has raised concerns over the department's questionable use of funds, highlighting several financial irregularities and management issues.
In the financial year ending June 30, 2023, the department paid Sh1.5 million as commutation for leave to 31 officers who couldn't proceed on leave due to work exigencies. While the accounting officer approved this payment, Gathungu noted that documentation failed to specify the duties these officers were retained to perform.
“In the circumstances, the regularity of the payment of commutation of leave of Sh1,533,363 could not be confirmed,” says the report.
The report also criticises the department for failing to settle pending bills totalling more than Sh19 million. According to the financial statements, the department had a pending accounts payable balance of Sh19,084,805. The management provided no satisfactory explanation for this failure, which Gathungu warns could distort the subsequent year's budget as these bills become a first charge.
Furthermore, the department spent Sh3.4 million against an approved budget of Sh3.9 million, resulting in an under-expenditure of Sh541,187,264 or 14 per cent of the budget. This underfunding and underperformance likely impacted negatively on public service delivery, as the Auditor General notes.
The audit revealed several organisational shortcomings within the department. It lacked an approved risk management policy, a risk register, and an ICT policy. The absence of these crucial management tools could lead to unclear directions regarding risk identification and appropriate mitigation measures.
Human resource management also came under fire. The department failed to comply with its human resource plan, having 198 staff members against the authorized 208, leaving a deficit of 10.
More alarmingly, 96 employees (46 per cent of total staff) are over 50 years old, indicating poor succession planning. Gathungu warns that this could affect services in critical areas as experienced staff exit the service.
Treasury letter
Interestingly, these findings contradict the National Treasury's assessment. In a letter dated March 26, 2024, seen by Nation.Africa, Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Chris Kiptoo commended the Gender department for receiving an unqualified (clean) audit opinion for the same financial year.
Dr Kiptoo praised the department for ensuring that its financial statements presented, in all material respects, an accurate financial position as of June 30, 2023.
“This commendation also serves to urge you to maintain the momentum and ensure that your financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2023 also remain unqualified. We look forward to you sharing the experiences and mentoring other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on sound accounting and financial reporting practises,” Dr Kiptoo concludes in the letter.
This isn't the first time the department has faced scrutiny. In the previous year's audit for the period ending June 30, 2022, Gathungu queried the use of donor funds. The department received Sh48,125,120 as a grant from the Finnish government but failed to provide supporting documents for audit review.
The 2022 audit also flagged Sh22,142,473 of expenditure related to grants and Sh2 million spent on training through the Finland program, both lacking proper documentation.
“In the circumstances, the accuracy and completeness of proceeds from foreign grants, hospitality supplies and services and training expenses of Sh48,125,120, Sh22,142,473 and Sh2 million respectively could not be confirmed,” Gathungu said in her report.
These questionable expenditures were part of a bilateral gender-based violence (GBV) program launched by Kenya and Finland in October 2021. The three-year initiative saw Finland contribute €5 million (Sh695 million) and Kenya €1 million (Sh140 million) to implement the project in Bungoma, Kilifi, and Samburu counties.
Another significant issue highlighted in the 2021/2022 financial year audit was the irregular payment of Sh104 million for sanitary pads for public schoolgirls. This payment, made to clear pending bills from the previous fiscal period, lacked proper supporting documents. The sanitary towels program, which aims to support more than 3.5 million girls in public schools, had an annual budget of Sh470 million as of 2017/2018 when it was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs.
The importance of the sanitary towels program cannot be overstated. Data from the Ministry of Education indicates that a girl absent from school for four days in 28 days loses 13 learning days, equivalent to two weeks of learning in every school term.
In an academic year, this amounts to 39 learning days or six weeks of learning time. For a girl in primary school between grades 6 and 8, this translates to a loss of 18 learning weeks out of 108 weeks.
The audit report also flagged irregular procurements worth Sh12.9 million during the 12th Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers Meeting held in Nairobi from September 16 to 20, 2019.
