The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) has called on President William Ruto to improve measures aimed at reducing government spending.
Specifically, ICPAK highlighted the importance of conducting regular audits of the payroll register, readjusting wages and salaries for civil servants, and eliminating ghost workers. These actions, according to ICPAK, are crucial steps toward lowering the government’s expenditure.
“There is a need to implement the resolutions of the Third National Wage Bill Conference that emphasised on the government commitment to achieving a wage bill to revenue ratio of not more than 35 per cent by 2028,” the accountants through their chairman Philip Kakai said in a statement to newsrooms.
He further recommended national job evaluation to review the public sector workforce to promote efficiency and eliminate redundancy in line with the government’s goal of digital transformation.
“The government should also reduce regular supplementary budgets which have often increased the size of the budget deficit. In the long term, this creates a culture of additional expedite, which adds pressure to raise more revenue,” added Kakai.
The government has been advised to prioritize the completion of ongoing projects that promise long-term returns on investment and postpone the start of new capital projects.
Furthermore, accountants have recommended that the Ruto administration decrease spending in recurrent areas like advertising, communication, printing, hospitality, fuel, vehicle procurement, refurbishments, and routine maintenance.
“The government should also adopt enhanced digitisation in delivery of government services, complete unbundling of functions to free funds from duplicated roles and functions at National and County level,” recommended accountants.
Private sector funding
Additionally, Kakai urged the Kenya Kwanza administration to utilize public-private partnerships (PPPs) to attract private sector investment and lessen dependency on government funding for critical priority areas.
The accountants also emphasized the need to eliminate revenue leakages and address corruption. Kakai cautioned that these issues not only undermine taxpayer morale but also contribute to tax apathy.
“Such revenue losses also make it difficult for government to provide essential services commensurate to the taxes that Kenyans pay,” he added. Kakai said revenue leakage is caused by various reasons such as complicated tax systems, discretionary power on exemptions, as well as a dampened morale to pay taxes occasioned by the culture of corruption.
He emphasized the importance of reviewing the penalty system for tax evasion, developing a change management strategy to address income tax issues, and utilizing simplified technological solutions to improve integration of taxpayer information systems, among other measures.
