National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi plans to table amendments to the Public Officer Ethics Act to expand the scope of the lifestyle audit.
He said the amendments were informed by a report prepared by a task force led by former MP Koigi Wamwere on harambees. It will seek to hold corrupt public officers to account.
“There is nothing wrong with philanthropy but we want to define it more elaborately. The amendments will make it mandatory for people giving contributions in church or anywhere to account for the source,” Mbadi said on Tuesday.
When someone makes donations worth more than his cumulative annual income, he said, then such a person will be compelled by law to explain the source of the extra income and whether they pay taxes.
Mbadi spoke in Mombasa when he addressed delegates attending the 35th Institute of Chartered Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) annual seminar.
ICPAK chairman Julius Mwatu said his association will push for new policies to require that persons being appointed to the positions of county executive committee member for finance and chief officer are certified public accountants as per the revised Accounting Act 2018.
He said a task force would be constituted to clearly spell out the roles of various professionals involved in the procurement process to make it easier to exonerate accountants from being unfairly held responsible for the negligence of others.
Mwatu said of the 47 counties, only five Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are serving as CECs in charge of finance. He said the trend is worrying.
He urged accountants to take up leadership positions nationally and in the counties to influence sound policy making for the country’s good.
During the seminar, delegates expressed their displeasure with what they termed unfair incrimination of the accounting profession, especially after President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered fresh vetting of heads of accounting and procurement in public offices.
They said some accountants are yet to be redeployed after their irregular suspension and urged Mbadi to raise the matter in Parliament.
