MPs seek real-time Ifmis access to monitor budget

Members of Parliament have demanded real-time access to IFMIS, the powerful system the Treasury uses to manage every shilling of government cash.

The Budget and Appropriations Committee wants the Treasury to work with the Clerk of the National Assembly to grant the Parliamentary Budget Office read-only access to the Integrated Financial Management Information System.

The Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi-led committee has set a deadline of April 30, 2026.

"The committee recommends that by April 30, 2026, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, in consultation with the Clerk of the National Assembly, grant the Parliamentary Budget Office read-only access to the Integrated Financial Management Information System," the report reads.

"This access will enable the office to monitor real-time budget execution and generate analytical reports to support parliamentary oversight." 

The committee held that the effectiveness of Parliament's oversight over public finances is constrained by limited access to real-time fiscal and budget execution data.

“The unavailability of direct access to IFMIS hampers the Parliamentary Budget Office in providing timely analysis, independent verification and continuous monitoring of budget implementation.”

IFMIS is solely controlled by the National Treasury.

Currently, Parliament relies on reports from the Treasury amid concerns that the mode of operation has seen the House receive reports late.

A member of the committee told the Star the argument is that by the time lawmakers see expenditure data, the money has already moved.

The lawmaker said the situation has made it impossible to stop questionable transactions.

The push for IFMIS access comes amid mounting evidence that the executive is bypassing Parliament on a massive scale in its spending.

The same report reveals that the Treasury approved Sh245.9 billion under Article 223 of the Constitution, a provision meant only for genuine emergencies.

Of this, Sh185.8 billion has already been disbursed, including Sh144.4 billion for a government bond buyback, which they hold was hardly an unforeseen crisis.

The committee itself noted that some of these expenditures "were not truly unforeseen and could have either been incorporated in the original estimates."

Real-time access would also expose the common practice of rushed spending in the final quarter of the financial year, where ministries accelerate procurement just to exhaust budgets before the fiscal close.

The report warns the rush, flagged in numerous audit reports, creates a persistent "risk of expenditure arrears and carryovers".

With read-only IFMIS access, the Parliamentary Budget Office could flag discrepancies, unauthorised withdrawals, and delayed disbursements to counties as they happen, not months later.

The Treasury has previously resisted such access, citing cybersecurity concerns. But MPs argue that read-only access poses no threat, as it allows viewing but not altering of data.

The system, which was installed at a cost of more than Sh12 billion primarily to prevent loss of public funds.

A review of Treasury books in the period to June 30, 2022, revealed serious flaws with the IFMIS system, especially a lack of control by Treasury.

At that time, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu flagged a lapse where an individual created an account in the system through which taxpayers lost an unknown amount of money.

The audit revealed that unscrupulous officials were able to override internal controls.

There are also instances where balances reflected in the financial statements have been at variance with balances in the IFMIS schedules.

The variances, the auditor said, “point to both control weaknesses in the IFMIS system and transactions processed manually outside IFMIS.”

In the 2024 report, the auditor pointed out that balances reflected in the financial statements or ledgers were at variance with balances in the IFMIS supporting schedules.

 The reported balances for recurrent, development and deposit bank balances, as well as cash in hand balances, were also found to be at variance with the IFMIS amounts.

The auditor also noted that some payments were made in IFMIS but could not be traced to the financial statements, whereas some payments in the financial records were not posted in IFMIS.

Some transactions were also not processed in IFMIS but were instead done manually, since the offices were not linked to IFMIS.

A review of the transactions in IFMIS revealed cases where numerous transactions were cancelled (voided) in the system, but no evidence was provided to confirm that the cancellation was approved.

The auditor general concluded that the findings were an indication the internal controls in IFMIS were not effective.

The committee’s recommendation aims to make such anomalies visible in real time.

If implemented, it could significantly strengthen parliamentary oversight, deter misuse of public funds, and improve accountability across government ministries.

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