Audit of 14 Special Funds billions ‘blocked’, Treasury PS Kiptoo snubs committee 16 times

Mandatory parliamentary oversight and audit of at least fourteen special funds running into hundreds of billions under the Ministry of the National Treasury has been impeded by ministry’s bureaucrats who have absconded parliamentary invitations for at least sixteens times now.

National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr. Chris Kiptoo snubbed the National Assembly’s Special Funds Accounts Committee for the sixteenth time on October 8, 2025, a repeat of no-shows since the initial on March 14, 2023.

Among the Special Funds in question include the Covid 19 Emergency Response Fund where billions of shillings collected as donations were allegedly looted, Credit Guarantee Scheme, the holding account of the Petroleum Development Levy Fund and the European Widows and Orphans Pensions Fund among others.

According to the committee chaired by Migori Women Representative Fatuma Mohamed, to date, the committee has successfully scrutinised and concluded examination of fifty funds, excluding the fourteen pending ones under Ministry of National Treasury.

“The biggest challenge remains the continued failure of the Accounting Officer to appear before the Committee, despite repeated invitations. This persistent non-compliance has stalled progress in concluding scrutiny and has impeded the Committee’s constitutional mandate of ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of public resources,” a terse statement by the committee reads in pa rt.

Fatuma said Kiptoo has consistently failed to appear before the committee, providing various reasons for non-attendance on each occasion and thus weakening accountability within the management of the Special Funds.

Backlog of the pending audit reports dates back 2017/2018 to 2023/2024 financial years.

Caption: Summary of the 14 Special Funds in question and specific watchdog committee invited National Treasury Principal Secretary to no avail.