Nairobi, Kenya, May 24 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi has assured accountants in the country that they are protected by the law against “retaliation by employers or clients in the event they expose any corruption-related cases” that they come across while executing their mandate.
Speaking during the 39th Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) Annual Seminar in Mombasa, CS Matiangi stated that accountants have an obligation to help end corruption in public procurement by ensuring that the payments they process are properly supported with the necessary documentation and enforcing strict identification protocols.
“You are critical players in matters related to financial accountability in all sectors of the economy and our foot soldiers in the war against graft and misuse of public resources at both levels of government. You sit at the heart of these organizations to prevent wrong-doing and ensure transparent and accurate financial reporting,” Matiangi said.
Matiangi said that the Government is open to working with the ICPAK and all professionals to explore strategies that advance peace, and stability and foster accelerated economic recovery in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“As a country, we intend to overcome the storms of uncertainty and continued global challenges that stifle our efforts in meeting the aspirations of the founding fathers of this nation. This demands of us to take advantage of the numerous opportunities for cooperation between the Government, the private sector, the faith-based communities, the professionals, and the civil society,” he added.
He expressed concern over what he termed as “an unprecedented rise in the number of corruption-related cases filed at the Anti-Corruption Court by EACC that implicate accountants both in the public and private sectors, challenging ICPAK to punish those accountants linked to graft.”
The Interior CS added that despite massive efforts to eradicate graft through training of accountants amongst others, they continue to register what he termed “numerous cases across the public sector where accountants fail to detect fraudulent transactions and lack of diligence in the use of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), leading to the loss of public funds.”
CS Matiangi pointed out that in the 2020 Global Kenya Economic Crime and Fraud Survey (Kenya Report), PWC reported that Kenyan firms had lost close to Sh 5.5 billion from economic crimes ranging from procurement fraud to asset misappropriation, bribery and corruption, and fraud in the last 24 months.
He noted that more than 14 percent of the Sh5.5 billion loss resulted from accounting and financial statement fraud.
“I am happy to note today that ICPAK maintains a Disciplinary Register and that you are trying to hold your members accountable. However, it is disturbing that you have not resolved sixteen (16) cases. You will note that eight (8) of the sixteen (16) cases have been pending for the last five (5) years, six (6) cases for four years, one (1) case for six (6) years, and one (1) case for two years,” CS Matiangi stated.
Matiangi said that the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) 2022 data shows that the agency has conducted investigations of suspicious proceeds of crime for the period 2018 to 2021 amounting to Sh374 billion and forwarded the reports for further investigations and possible prosecution to law enforcement agencies.
“The FRC has forwarded to EACC (90 cases), KRA (89 cases), Assets Recovery Authority (102 cases), NIS (171 cases), and DCI (154 cases). These cases are linked to corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and financial fraud,” Matiang’i said.
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