The Public Accounts Committee in the National Assembly has recommended that accounting officers be barred from holding office until cleared by Treasury if they have been flagged in the Auditor General reports.
This is a good idea but there are some practical limitations.
Firstly, a recruitment freeze has resulted in a chronic shortage of accountants in government today. If accountants start being automatically suspended, the government payment system may become even more dysfunctional.
Secondly, the government HR system is so slow that suspended accountants may end up indefinitely receiving half-pay without working.
A more effective approach might be for the Director of Public Prosecutions to analyse all reports by the Auditor General as a matter of course. He could initiate police investigations of civil servants who appear to be involved in wrongdoing.
If they are charged in court with abuse of office, then accounting officers should be interdicted and sent on leave.
The PAC is right to push for a crackdown on dodgy accounting officers. But let’s get more evidence against them.
Quote of the day: "Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed."
Mwai Kibaki
The Kenyan president was born on 15 November, 1931.