Accountability at last!

After the tabling and debate of the report by the Joint Parliamentary Committee investigating discrepancies in the Supplementary Budget, Parliament moved that the Supplementary Budget should be withdrawn and a forensic audit to be conducted.

Below is a message from the Partnership for Change who assisted in exposing the said inconsistencies, which at last count totalled Kshs. 10.7 billion.

===================================================================================
The Partnership for Change Report on Phase 1 of the Budget 2009 Campaign to save Public Resources for Agenda 4 of the National Accord.

The Partnership for Change is asking you to help us to campaign and encourage Kenyans to demand austerity measures and savings to be made in the June 2009 National Budget, by Government and Parliament. Money saved will be directed to the Development Budget. The Outcome will be to save approximately 200 Billion shillings, which if allocated to the Development Budget, will contribute enormously to Agenda 4 issues of the National Accord, such as unemployment, underdevelopment, starvation, food insecurity and impunity.

The Campaign entered its first phase with scrutiny of the Supplementary Budget. It is envisaged that we will save at the very minimum 10.7 Billion that is concealed in the Supplementary Budget. Further we anticipate that a forensic audit into the Supplementary Budget will also identify waste. Yesterday 13th May 2009 the Report Of The Joint Committees On Finance Planning And Trade and The Budget Committee On The Inconsistencies Contained In The Supplementary Estimates Of The Financial Year 2008/2009 was tabled in Parliament and was adopted by the House.

The Joint Committee Recommended that:
1. Since there are inconsistencies in the Supplementary Estimates, they should be withdrawn and correct estimates resubmitted.
2. An independent forensic Audit be done
3. The fiscal Management Bill be approved and enacted as a matter of urgency

The Partnership for Change is grateful to Hon. Gitobu Imanyara, and Hon. Paul Muite SC who availed invaluable time, advise and support at no cost whatsoever to the Citizens of Kenya, and with no partisan interest, helped us focus Parliament on their duty to those they represent. Our gratitude also to the Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Kenneth Marende, who has been fair and just.

Finally to those Members of Parliament who sat in the Joint Committee and promised Citizens that they would exercise their oversight role and do the just and right thing. We achieved all our recommendations to the Committee in our submission to Parliament including odious debt such as Ken Ren, which you will see in the report of the Committee. We did not manage to obtain an apology from the Minister Of Finance to patriotic Kenyans that were are only doing their duty, but the Partnership for Change has been commended by both Chairs of the Joint Committee. Either way we are grateful to Parliament for doing their duty and in particular to our request that this matter should not adopt a political nature as public resources are serious matters.

The campaign will now move into its second phase as we advocate for 60% development budget allocations in the National Budget to be brought to Parliament in June 2009.

Read Full Report at http://blog.marsgroupkenya.org/?p=814