• State did not allocate additional funds to EACC, retaining it at Sh2.9 billion.
• NIS allocated Sh37.7 billion.
Image: ENOS TECHE
The government has enhanced funding to anti-corruption agencies in a strategic move to tame graft, the single vice blamed for gobbling up to a quarter of Kenya’s total budget.
While unveiling the 2019-2020 budget on Thursday, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich allocated the lion's share to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations at Sh7.1 billion.
DCI headed by the no-nonsense George Kinoti was allocated Sh6.4 billion in the last financial year.
Ironically, the DCI detectives this year threatened to end Rotich’s career over the Sh 21 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams probe.
Investigations into the scandal where Rotich has been questioned severally are still ongoing.
However, the State did not allocate additional resources to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Like in the last financial year, EACC was allocated Sh2.9 billion.
This is the amount the agency will use to fund complex probes, mostly involving stolen billions by governors.
In the new budget, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was allocated Sh3 billion, up from Sh2.9 billion the last financial year.
Other big winners were the Unclaimed Assets Recovery Agency that received Sh149 million and Sh540.8 million to the Financial Reporting Centre.
The Asset Recovery Agency, a key institution in the anti-graft war and which has frozen billions of suspected loot, was allocated Sh50 million.
This is a big drop. The agency received Sh161 million in the 2017-2018 financial year.
The office of the the Auditor General headed by Edward Ouko was allocated Sh 5.7 billion while the spy agency the National Intelligence Service was allocated Sh37.7 billion.
Speaking in Parliament, Rotich announced the government has launched a public procurement portal where all government departments must publish and publicise details of contracts awarded.
He said the the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority continues to publish monthly contract awards by all public entities in the portal.
According to Rotich, 385 public entities have been registered in the portal to date and 5,236 contracts published valued at Sh146.5 billion.
“We expect further transparency with implementation of a new end-to-end e-procurement system fully integrated with IFMIS,” Rotich stated.