Plug parastatal shame
Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) has the dubious distinction of topping the 177 parastatals holding a total of Sh201 billion in idle cash in commercial banks at a time when most parts of the country do not have even murram roads. Despite increased efforts in recent years to build tarmac roads, many constituencies have only one or none at all.
Data from the National Treasury indicates that, as of last December, KeRRA had a whopping Sh27.93 billion in the account, accounting for 13.89 per cent of the bank deposits by state corporations. It is, of course, a massive boon to the banks as they can lend the funds on short notice or even much longer, knowing that the agency will not make withdrawals soon.
The much-touted healthy bank balances are actually an indictment of the glaring failure by the parastatals to use the public resources to realise the set objectives. As they dilly-dally or fail to utilise the money, there are other sections that are starved of resources and which could have put it to good use for the benefit of the citizens, who diligently pay their taxes and deserve services, amenities or facilities in return.
Other parastatals under the Ministry of Roads and Transport are holding a total of Sh65 billion. They include the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), with Sh13.27 billion. KeNHA is responsible for the development, rehabilitation, management and maintenance of national trunk roads. Ironically, many of these are potholed and dilapidated.
Having a parastatal hold so much money can create an opportunity for theft of the public funds. Hopefully, this will change following the Cabinet’s approval of the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which is meant to consolidate the finances of parastatals. However, that should not create another bureaucratic layer to abet pilferage.
