Nairobi, Sept. 18 – Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o is pushing for sweeping new legal powers that would allow her office to block government withdrawals in real time, in a proposal that would fundamentally change how public spending is policed in Kenya ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Under the proposed Controller of Budget (Amendment) Bill, 2025, Nyakang’o’s office would be granted real-time monitoring rights over national and county exchequer accounts held at the Central Bank of Kenya, giving it the ability to flag and halt withdrawals that exceed limits already approved by Parliament. The bill would also empower the office to recommend that funding be cut off entirely to agencies that persistently ignore budget rules, and to investigate suspected violations of budget implementation law directly.
Currently, the Controller of Budget’s office can only authorise or flag withdrawals after the fact, with limited legal teeth to stop non-compliant spending before it occurs or to punish agencies that breach approved limits. Nyakang’o has argued that this gap has allowed repeated overdrafts and unauthorised withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund, the Equalisation Fund and County Revenue Funds to go unchecked, with her office only able to raise concerns retrospectively.
The push follows a recent budget audit by her office that is reported to have flagged multiple government agencies for breaching spending rules, including unmet contractual obligations, weak oversight of loans, and delays in implementing approved programmes. The proposed reforms are said to align with a 2020 Court of Appeal decision that affirmed the office’s constitutional mandate to oversee the implementation of national and county budgets.
Under the bill, members of the public and stakeholders have until October 8 to submit memoranda during the ongoing public participation window, after which the proposal is expected to move to Parliament for further debate. The bill also proposes penalties of up to five million shillings or two years in prison for entities found to have violated budget implementation rules once the enhanced enforcement powers come into force.
If enacted, the changes would mark one of the most significant expansions of the Controller of Budget’s authority since the office was established, arriving at a politically sensitive moment as scrutiny of state spending intensifies in the run-up to the next General Election.