7/15/12

Drug barons make good copy, but media must pay attention to PFM Bill - Comment |theeastafrican.co.ke

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COMMENT

Drug barons make good copy, but media must pay attention to PFM Bill

A couple of weeks ago, Kenyas parliament wrapped up its session and went on recess for a month. Press coverage of parliaments last week was dominated by reports that M Ps did not show up in sufficient numbers to establish a quorum on the morning of Wednesday, June 27. The Standard noted that, although Kenyan M Ps are among the best paid legislators in the world, the morning session lasted only a record 47 minutes due to the lack of quorum. The Daily Nation published an editorial on June 29 lamenting M Ps attitude as totally unbecoming and an insult to the dignity of the House. It is certainly fair to criticise parliamentarians when they fail to do their jobs. But it is ironic that the media was focused on what was probably the most irrelevant event of the week, while ignoring entirely far more momentous happenings. For, after a slow start on Wednesday morning, parliament had passed the long-awaited Public Financial M anagement Bill by that same evening, and the Appropriations Bill by Thursday. Yet neither achievement got the attention of the Wednesday quorum debacle. The passing of the budget merited only a small story in the County News section of the Daily Nation on June 29 titled, Full budget cash to be released, as if the main news was that there would be no delay in implementing the budget, rather than the fact that a budget was actually passed. The last week of parliaments sitting was nothing short of astonishing, but the press completely failed to capture this. This is unfortunate, because parliament took critical decisions with almost no public attention between June 27 and 29. First, they reached a compromise with Treasury on the budget, while obviating an illegal vote on account. Second, they adopted a slew of amendments to the Public Financial M anagement Bill that, for the most part, had never been seen by the public (and probably were new to more than a few parliamentarians as well). The lack of attention to these details suggests that the media does not understand the import of what is happening in parliament. Sensational claims about drug lords get press; seemingly boring details about government spending that affect far more people get none. And yet, the lurid details of other stories that have dominated the press are in fact quite linked to the drudgery of the PFM Bill and the Appropriations Act. For example, there have been (at least) two major scandals involving state corporations in Kenya that have made headlines in the past few months. One is, of course, the contracting scandal at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). M ore recently, we have learned of aberrations in the distribution of houses through the National Housing Corporation (NHC). State corporations in Kenya like NHIF and NHC manage hundreds of billions of shillings in public money each year, but they are opaque, subject to limited oversight, and frequently embroiled in scandal. Relatively little is known about the subsidies they receive or how they use them. They are not required to publish their financial statements, nor are they required to explain in detail their policies or business plans to the public. The Public Financial M anagement Bill that was passed by parliament introduces important new reporting requirements for state corporations. It requires the government to table in the National Assembly an annual report, four months after the close of every financial year, on all state corporations, the subsidies they receive, the rationale for these, and a discussion of the links, whether through shareholding or otherwise, between government and each corporation. Every three years, an assessment of the value of continued government support is also to be done. These kinds of reports would make it much easier for parliament to ask questions about how state corporations use public money before scandals happen, rather than trying to mop up after the fact. If the press had reported on these provisions, my guess is that they would have garnered substantial public support. They passed anyway with minimal public awareness. But these provisions do not go far enough; the last version of the law was still not clear on whether state corporations must publish their financial statements, and the annual report to the National Assembly was not required to be made public. Had the public really understood what was at stake, perhaps they would have sought access to still further information than what M Ps gave them. With that information, citizens, the media and parliament together would have a far better chance at holding state corporations accountable than they do now, or than they will under the version of the Bill passed in June. But all is not lost; the final Bill still leaves many key decisions to be drafted in accompanying regulations. This is an appropriate place to insist on further public disclosure. Dr Jason Lakin is a programme officer and research fellow at the International Budget Partnership. lakin@cbpp.org

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