A parliamentary committee wants the law changed to give the Controller of Budget (CoB) powers to report on and provide independent oversight of billions of shillings held in national and county government funds and levies. Breaking It Down The call by the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Implementation Oversight, contained in a report to the House, comes amid concerns that a majority of the 75 funds and levies at the national level
09/22/26 • 23
A parliamentary committee wants the law changed to give the Controller of Budget (CoB) powers to report on and provide independent oversight of billions of shillings held in national and county government funds and levies.
📋 Breaking It Down
The call by the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Implementation Oversight, contained in a report to the House, comes amid concerns that a majority of the 75 funds and levies at the national level, as well as many others in the counties, are blind spots and potential cash cows.
The proposed changes to the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act would allow the Controller of Budget, Dr Margaret Nyakang’o, to report on these funds and levies, including the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), which already holds Sh104 billion from the sale of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) shares.
There is also the Affordable Housing Levy, which has collected about Sh65 billion deducted from Kenyans’ earnings for the construction of low-cost housing units, but whose use remains outside oversight.
📌 What You Need to Know
Read: MPs flag loopholes in Sh340bn National Infrastructure Fund
The report on the status of implementation of the Constitution quotes Dr Nyakang’o as saying the loophole in the law “prevents any independent oversight” of billions held in funds and levies, “severely undermining” her supervisory role over public finances.
“The Controller of Budget clarified that all funds and levies fall outside her oversight mandate due to their classification as funds and levies rather than budgeted funds,” the report states.
The MPs also want the Controller of Budget Act amended to include enforcement powers so that recommendations are implemented, restrictions on economic reporting are removed, and sanctions for violations are provided.
Dr Nyakang’o recently admitted that her office — one of the two constitutional independent offices alongside that of the Auditor-General — lacks visibility over standalone government funds and levies.
She said that because these statutory and special funds operate outside the Consolidated Fund, her office lacks the statutory mechanisms to directly oversee or track how the billions of shillings are spent.
📰 Source: Nation Africa
