Treasury Designates Inspector General Of Police As Accounting Officer NPS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept, 16 – It’s now officially, the National Treasury has designated the Inspector General of Police as the Accounting Officer of the National Police Service.

This is in line with President William Ruto’s pledge to sever any dependency on the office of the presidency.

The Office of the Inspector General of Police enjoys autonomy according to Article 245 however in the previous administration, his office is said to have been ‘infiltrated’ according to governance observers.

A letter from Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani addressed to Hillary Mutyambai revealed the news saying he will be the accounting officer for the financial year 2022/2023 with effect from September 15, 2022.

“In accordance with the powers conferred on the Cabinet Secretary to the National Treasury by Section 67 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 you are hereby designated the Accounting Officer for Vote 1025 (National Police Service) for the financial year 2022/2023 with effect from 15th September 2022.”

The letter also revealed that the IG may be required to attend in-person meetings of Accounting Officers called by Treasury CS to deliberate on public finance management Issues.

“As an Accounting Officer, you must comply and familiarize yourself with the Constitution, the PFM Act 2012, the PFM Regulations (National Government) of 2015, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015 and Public Audit Act of 2015, and various other laws and regulations, directives and circulars issued by the National Treasury from time to time,”  read a section of the letter.

in a broader sense, the meetings between the Treasury and IG will also be applicable to Ministries, State Departments, and Agencies in order to ensure close contact and cooperation.

In the budgetary allocation announced by the treasury earlier his month, Sh317.8 billion of the Sh3.3 trillion proposed expenditure in the 2022/23 budget was allocated to the National security agencies in the country.

Police and prisons services budgets decreased by Sh8.4 billion from last year’s Sh110.6 billion to the current 102.2 billion

During his inauguration speech, president William Ruto said that he would grant the police financial autonomy.

“As required by Article 245 of the Constitution, the Inspector-General of Police is mandated to exercise independent command over the National Police Service. The services’ operational autonomy, however, has been undermined by the continued financial dependence on the Office of the President. This situation is going to change,” he said.

The instruments conferring financial autonomy to the NPS will be transferred from the Office of the President as the Inspector-General will now be designated as the accounting officer.

“Financial independence to the police will give impetus to the fight against corruption, and end the political weaponization of the criminal justice system; an undertaking I made to the people of Kenya,” said Ruto.

President Kenyatta’s administration was accused of abusing the criminal justice Sector in order to punish political opponents.

Institutions such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were accused of abusing their power to arbitrarily arrest rival politicians.

Granting the police service finally independence is expected to promote accountability and improve service delivery.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the term of the current IG Hillary Mutyambai ends in April 2023.