Parliamentary Oversight Over National Revenue Expenditure in Kenya: a Study of the Public Accounts Committee of the 11th Parliament (2013-2017)

Abstract

Historically within the Kenyan context, the legislature was viewed as a ‘rubber-stamp’ to the executive agenda and was therefore believed to be incapable of exercising its oversight role. The drafters of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 therefore identified and incorporated the need for an accountable government, a prudent public financial management system and the important role parliamentary oversight in ensuring the same as crucial in achieving constitutional reform agendas. While it is generally believed that the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 would hail the shift towards a well-endowed National Assembly with the capability of exercising fiscal oversight, the same has remained an elusive dream. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate that the National Assembly of the 11th Parliament (2013-2017) through the Public Accounts Committee has been largely unsuccessful in the exercise of oversight over national revenue expenditure on account of structural and operational challenges of the Public Accounts Committee and shortcomings in the enabling statutory framework. In making this argument, the paper will employ a multi-pronged methodology which will include doctrinal research methodology by mapping out the constitutional and legal framework of parliamentary oversight and analysing the committee’s reports, case study approach by interrogating the operations of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee of the 11th Parliament and lastly a comparative approach in identifying some best practices in other jurisdictions to inform the recommendations towards strengthening the committee. This study has the potential of informing legal or policy reforms through identifying the challenges of fiscal oversight by the Public Accounts Committee under the new constitutional dispensation and proposing solutions for the same with a view to realize the constitutional spirit on accountability and transparency.