County governments in the Western and Coast regions operated the highest number of illegal bank accounts during the first half of the financial year 2023/24, from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, according to a report by the Controller of Budget.
The report, titled “County Governments Budget Implementation Review,” outlines how counties spent their allocated budgets during this period and the challenges they faced.
COB Margaret Nyakang’o noted that county governments operated over 1,400 illegal bank accounts, making it difficult for her office to track public expenditure. The only exemption to this rule allows county governments to open accounts used for small routine expenses within the organization, known as petty cash imprest accounts.
“For avoidance of doubt, all county government bank accounts shall be opened at the Central Bank of Kenya except for imprest bank accounts for petty cash,” reads part of the regulations.
COB Nyakang’o advised the County Executive Committee members responsible for Finance to ensure compliance with the law by maintaining the accounts at the Central Bank of Kenya.
In the report, Bungoma led with 321 illegal bank accounts, followed by Migori with 208, Kwale with 165, and Nyandarua with 88. Counties in the Mt Kenya region, such as Kiambu, Embu, and Murang’a, operated 52, 37, and 37 illegal accounts, respectively.
“The growing number of bank accounts operated by counties in commercial banks has made it more difficult for the Office of the Controller of Budget to track public expenditure,” Nyakang’o stated.
Data from Nairobi County was missing, as the COB explained that the required information was not provided by the county government.
