Matiang’i Directive to Accountants After Prison Staff Caught With Millions

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang’i directed the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICAK) to its root out compromised members after two prison staff were at pains to explain millions traced in their accounts.

Speaking during a meeting with ICPAK in Mombasa County on Tuesday, May 24, the CS asked the organization to publicly name and shame officials at the centre of graft, pervasive and entrenched in the public sector.

Matiang’i noted that the majority of the fraud committed in government agencies and state departments is orchestrated by accountants, skilled at circumventing financial systems. 

Interior CS Fred Matiang’i addresses a meeting with KEPSA and the NDICCC on Monday, May 23, 2022.

Interior Ministry

“The EACC has discovered some of my staff who have between Ksh260 and 270 million which they cannot account for. The problem that the Controller of Budget faces in the county is not caused by ordinary people, it is caused by accountants who cook the books.

“We all look forward to a day when ISPAK will publish names of accountants they are removing from their rolls and membership on account of cooking books,” he remarked.

The tough-talking CS opined that the accountants were behind the government accruing huge unpaid bills due to inflated costs of purchased items. 

He emphasized the need for proper and trustworthy professionals who will regulate expenditure.

“I challenge ICPAK to ensure that its members update their skills through rigorous training, weeding out of unscrupulous individuals, upholding integrity at personal and professional levels, and by strictly holding the highest levels of professional ethics and codes of conduct,” he added.

In addition, Matiang’i was struggling to conduct business with the private sector because of doctored contracts angled towards overpayment of services, thus handing traders power over the government. 

“There are contracts that we saw and asked who on earth would enter into a contract of such a kind? We pay contractors 40 per cent of the total sum for doing nothing, ” he remarked.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Offices at Integrity Centre in Nairobi. ‎Monday, ‎18 ‎November ‎2019.

Simon Kiragu

Kenyans.co.ke

The Interior CS also warned the professionals against falling victim to money laundering politicians ahead of the August 9 General Election.

He urged them to work within the law, ensuring that the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act are complied with.

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