Busia Senator Okiyah Omtatah has blamed the restructuring of the National Treasury under the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, for what he described as Kenya’s growing debt crisis, opaque borrowing and weakening of public financial accountability.
Omtatah argued that Section 11 of the Act fundamentally altered the country’s financial governance by placing the National Treasury under the National Executive and, consequently, political control through the Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance.
According to the senator, the move represented a major departure from what he considers the constitutional design of an independent institution responsible for safeguarding public finances.
“Parliament's decision in 2012, at Section 11 of the Public Finance Management Act, to convert the National Treasury - which is established in the Constitution as an independent constitutional institution - into a department of the National Executive, placed under the political control of the President through the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, is the original sin at the heart of our woes,” Omtatah said.
He claimed the change weakened the system of checks and balances that was intended to govern the management and control of public resources.
“It is the moment the architecture of accountability was dismantled. It is the moment the purse was surrendered to the Executive and the control of public funds was lost,” he said.
Omtatah further argued that the changes also weakened Parliament’s influence over national finances, particularly its role in scrutinising government spending and borrowing.
He linked the restructuring to several challenges facing the country, including rising public debt, borrowing practices and expenditure that he described as lacking transparency.
“And it is also the moment the door was opened to the debt crisis, the opaque borrowing, the concealed expenditure, and the impunity that now strangle our Republic,” Omtatah stated.
The senator called for reforms to restore what he described as an independent National Treasury, arguing that Kenya’s financial management system should reflect the separation of powers envisaged in the Constitution.
“To drain the swamp, we must reinstate an independent National Treasury,” Omtatah said.
He maintained that stronger institutional separation would prevent any single arm of government or public office holder from exercising excessive control over the entire cycle of public money.
Omtatah said reclaiming that constitutional framework would strengthen accountability and restore safeguards around public finances.
“That is the Constitution's promise. That is the promise we must reclaim,” he said.