MPs back sector-based roundtables to resolve audit queries in State corporations

The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy (PIC CA&E) has recommended the use of sector-based roundtables as a faster way of resolving audit queries raised against State corporations operating within similar areas of service delivery.

The committee said the approach enables lawmakers, government agencies and auditors to address recurring and cross-cutting audit concerns within a broader policy and operational framework.

Speaking in the National Assembly, PIC CA&E Chairperson and Pokot South MP David Pkosing said the committee had resolved 105 of the audit queries raised by the Auditor General during its examination of five State corporations in the energy sector.

Pkosing made the remarks while moving a motion seeking the adoption of the committee’s Fourth Report on the examination of audited financial statements of the State corporations for three financial years up to the 2022/2023 financial year.

The corporations examined were the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), Nuclear Power and Energy Corporation (NuPEA) and another State corporation under the energy sector.

The motion was seconded by Nairobi County MP Esther Passaris, who is also a member of the committee.

Pkosing said the committee first held individual engagements with the State corporations before convening a sector-based roundtable involving the Ministry of Energy, National Treasury, Office of the Auditor General and management of the agencies under review.

The roundtable was aimed at addressing audit queries that cut across several institutions and identifying solutions within the broader energy sector framework.

“This is one of the easiest ways to ensure that Kenyans get value for money because some of the recurrent audit matters are crosscutting and can be resolved in that way,” Pkosing told the House.

According to the committee, the approach makes it easier to interrogate audit findings while taking into account the policy, financial and operational circumstances affecting State agencies.

The committee reviewed a total of 195 audit queries across the five State corporations. Of these, 105 were resolved, leaving 90 unresolved.

The committee has previously applied the same approach in the roads and transport sector, where it examined audit queries relating to seven State agencies.

In that exercise, MPs reviewed 248 queries and resolved 140 through engagements involving the relevant agencies and sector stakeholders.

The committee said sector-based engagements could help reduce duplication, improve coordination among government institutions and accelerate the implementation of recommendations arising from Auditor General reports.

Debate on the energy and roads and transport reports is pending before the National Assembly.