MPs have rejected a proposal by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o to place all operations of the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund under her oversight, raising fresh concerns about accountability in the management of the multi-billion-shilling kitty.
Dr Nyakang'o had proposed amendments to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill, 2026, seeking to preserve the full application of the Public Finance Management Act (PFM), the Public Audit Act, 2015, and Article 228 of the Constitution to all operations of the fund.
The Bill seeks to establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund to provide institutional arrangements for the management of petroleum revenues and other strategic state assets.
President William Ruto's administration hopes to build a Sh5 trillion fund to finance infrastructure development.
The kitty is expected to receive an initial Sh103.4 billion and Sh244.5 billion from the planned divestiture of government shareholding in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and Safaricom Limited, respectively.
“Regulations made under this Act must be subject to affirmative parliamentary approval,” Dr Nyakang'o told the National Assembly's Finance and National Planning Committee during public participation on the Bill sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango,
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“Commencement of all substantive provisions must be by a fixed date set in the Act and not by ministerial proclamation. The savings provisions also fail to expressly preserve the application of the Public Finance Management Act, the Public Audit Act and the Controller of Budget's powers under Article 228 of the Constitution,” she said.
Dr Nyakang'o further argued that the Bill subjected regulations only to a negative parliamentary resolution, which she said offered insufficient oversight for a fund of such magnitude.
Article 228 of the Constitution empowers the Controller of Budget to oversee the implementation of the budgets of both the national and county governments by authorising withdrawals from public funds.
It further provides that the Controller of Budget shall not approve any withdrawal from a public fund unless satisfied that the withdrawal is authorised by law.
The Constitution also requires the Controller of Budget to submit to each House of Parliament reports on budget implementation every four months.
However, in its report on the Bill, the Finance and National Planning Committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani, rejected Dr Nyakang'o's proposal, arguing that the existing provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Audit Act already provide adequate safeguards.
“Further, the Statutory Instruments Act regulates delegated legislation and provides for parliamentary oversight,” the committee said in its report.
The committee, however, backed several of Dr Nyakang'o's proposals, including the need to expressly classify the Sovereign Wealth Fund as a public fund under Article 207 of the Constitution and to acknowledge the Controller of Budget's oversight jurisdiction under Article 228(4).
“The committee agreed with the stakeholder on the need to acknowledge the role of the Controller of Budget in accordance with Article 228 of the Constitution,” the report states.
Lawmakers also supported proposals requiring that no withdrawal be made from the fund without prior written authorisation from the Controller of Budget.
Members of the National Assembly during a past sitting.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo I Nation Media Group
Dr Nyakang'o had argued that all revenues deposited into the fund should be expressly recognised as public money and subjected to the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act.
“There is a real risk that the fund could create a parallel financial architecture outside the national budget framework, which is constitutionally impermissible,” she warned.
She also proposed that all revenues first be paid into the Consolidated Fund and later transferred to the Sovereign Wealth Fund through parliamentary appropriation in line with Article 206 of the Constitution.
MPs further endorsed proposals to allow a non-voting representative of the Controller of Budget to attend all board meetings of the fund, require the board to account to Parliament through the Controller's budget implementation reports, and subject all board appointments to a competitive and transparent process with parliamentary approval.
