The Budget and Appropriations Committee chaired by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) met with the Auditor General, FCPA Nancy Gathungu to consider their budget.

 During the meeting, FCPA Gathungu appealed to Members to consider reinstating the amounts reduced from the previous allocations in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) for the Financial Year 2024/25, and those of the current financial year.

 She noted that these funds would enable her office to continue delivering its Constitutional mandate and ensure quality and timely audit reports are provided for effective oversight.

 The Auditor General said that in the 2024 BPS, the Office of Auditor General (AOG) was allocated Kshs.8.6 billion, comprising Kshs.8.28 billion recurrent and Kshs.315 million development expenditure. However, under the proposed estimates, the recurrent budget allocation has been reduced to Kshs.8.21 billion.

 Some of the key areas that will be affected by this reduction include training expenses, general supplies and services amongst other operating expenses.

 The Auditor General also detailed the cost of the one capital project for the construction of the Mombasa regional office, estimated at Kshs.900 million and the construction of OAG headquarters in Nairobi.

 “We agreed to prioritize the Mombasa Regional Office but it is also imperative we start the preliminary planning for the headquarters. I would request an allocation of Kshs.500 million for the OAG headquarters project out of the estimated project cost of Kshs.6 billion, to enable us to commence the process,” she added.

 Hon. Nyoro, however, questioned the return on investment of the OAG headquarters.

 “You are requesting for Kshs.500 million out of the projected Kshs.6 billion. I have seen your rental expenditure in terms of the lease is approximately Kshs.180 million every year. Looking at the current market rates in Nairobi, some major buildings are on sale for almost the same amount. This therefore means, it will take 30 years to recover the investment of Kshs.6 billion given the yearly expenses of 180 million,” Hon. Nyoro said.

Hon. Samuel Atandi (Alego Usonga) questioned the request for additional funds for personnel emoluments, asking if she could consider investing more in technology to cut expenses.

 On this, the AG said her office is already leveraging technology and that is the reason progressively audit reports are coming out earlier and the previous backlog has been cleared