𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐅𝐌 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations has proposed amendments to the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act to provide clear procedures for opening, operating, and closing bank accounts by county governments.

On Friday, during a consultative meeting with the Controller of Budget, the Office of the Auditor General, and the Council of Governors (CoG) in Mombasa, Kakamega Governor FCPA Fernandes Barasa, who chairs the CoG Finance Committee, expressed support for the proposed changes.

Governor Barasa explained that counties often operate commercial bank accounts to receive and manage conditional grants from development partners, as per their requirements. However, he welcomed the Committee’s push for legal clarity, noting the importance of ensuring that all county accounts are reconciled, approved by the National Treasury, and transparently disclosed.

“Counties have different bank accounts as part of the requirement from our development partners. I agree with the Committee that we need to amend the law to give us more flexibility,” Governor Barasa stated.

The proposed amendments aim to align financial practices in counties with national laws, improve oversight, and enhance transparency across all 47 devolved units.