By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 31 July 2026 - The battle over oversight of county governments has entered a new phase after Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi backed a proposal to grant senators monthly access to county financial transaction reports, arguing that Parliament cannot continue policing billions of shillings using year-old audit reports.
Speaking during debate on a motion sponsored by Senator from Busia, Okiya Omtatah, Osotsi said the Senate must move from retrospective oversight to real-time scrutiny if devolution is to deliver value for money.
The proposal would compel the National Treasury to submit monthly Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) transaction reports for all county governments to the Clerk of the Senate for distribution to senators.
If adopted, it would significantly strengthen the Senate's ability to monitor expenditure before questionable transactions become entrenched, marking one of the boldest attempts yet to enhance parliamentary oversight of county finances.
"This is a very important motion in our oversight role as senators and I'm very confident that it will improve our standing as senators in terms of our work. We will be able to do our work in time and basically it will also improve the audit process," Osotsi said.
His intervention reflects growing frustration within the Senate over what legislators describe as delayed accountability. By the time reports from the Auditor-General reach Parliament, disputed payments have often been completed, procurement contracts executed and public funds spent, leaving senators with little room beyond exposing irregularities.
Osotsi argued that the country's mounting pending bills crisis illustrates the weaknesses of the current oversight framework. He said county officials frequently determine which suppliers are paid based on personal or political interests rather than established financial priorities.
"Pending bills is a problem in almost all our counties because the process of prioritising payments in the counties is determined according to the interest that county officials have," he said.
He claimed that some approved payments are delayed or cancelled within the IFMIS platform, creating opportunities for manipulation while genuine creditors continue waiting.
"So this particular motion, if implemented properly, will give us a chance to know which payments have not been prioritised and for what reason they have not been prioritised," he said, adding that the reforms could eventually help resolve the persistent accumulation of pending bills.
The senator also alleged that some county administrations alter payment schedules after securing approval from the Controller of Budget, effectively diverting public funds to expenditures that had not received authorisation.
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According to Osotsi, continuous access to IFMIS records would allow senators to detect such diversions early instead of discovering them months later through audit reports.
"The issue of diversion of funds, which is a crime, will be able to be flagged out by senators because we will be able to know which particular payments have been diverted and which ones have not been diverted," he said.
Beyond suspected financial impropriety, Osotsi said the proposed reporting regime would help settle the recurring blame game over delayed county disbursements, where county governments, the National Treasury and the Controller of Budget often accuse one another of causing cash flow disruptions.
"We will be able to know what is happening in IFMIS and know where the blame should lie," he said.
He further pointed to the widespread failure by counties to remit statutory deductions, including taxes, pension contributions and SACCO deductions, arguing that monthly transaction reports would expose such breaches before they spiral into larger financial liabilities.
In one of the debate's most striking remarks, Osotsi lamented that senators currently operate as observers arriving long after financial damage has been done.
"We are basically morticians. We wait for the Auditor General to do his report and then now we come a year later," he said.
The proposal is likely to rekindle debate over the balance between transparency and executive control of financial systems. Supporters argue that real-time disclosure would deter misuse of devolved funds and strengthen public accountability. Critics, however, may question whether unrestricted access to IFMIS data could raise operational or administrative concerns.
For now, the motion signals a broader push by senators to transform the House from an institution that documents financial failures into one capable of preventing them before public money is lost.
Osotsi Pushes for Real-time County Spending Data in Senate's Latest Bid to Tighten Grip on Governors
Godfrey Osotsi has lamented that senators currently operate as observers arriving long after financial damage has been done.