Mombasa, 28th October, 2023
Nairobi County Executives and Chief Officers undertook a three-day Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) training on e-procurement and budgeting cycles.
Speaking during the opening of the session, Nairobi County Finance Executive Charles Kerich said the exercise’s objective is to increase transparency, efficiency, and accountability in the sectors, to allow tracking and management of budgets effectively, provision of data accuracy, and reduce human error and analysis to help organizations make informed decisions.
“Governor Sakaja takes performance and revenue collection seriously. Hence, he encouraged the finance sector to ensure that all levels of staff in the county government are trained to handle procurement and expenditure processes,” Mr. Kerich said.
“This will ensure accountability and prudent management of finances. IFMIS is a tool that we all need to put to good use. Otherwise, we all get stuck. It has to be two-way, technical, and operational, which must be used seamlessly. Most counties use less than 20% of IFMIS due to a lack of knowledge. It’s a tool for creating budgets instead of using Excel spending/procurement.”
The Finance County Executive also emphasized that the role of the respective sectors is to facilitate all sectors. “It is expected that at the end of this session, each County Executive and Chief Officer will be able to generate their reports and monitor sector budget usage. This will eliminate unnecessary suspicions.”
Speaking in the same function, the Chief Officer Finance and Economic Planning Asha Abdi emphasized the role of IFMIS at the national and county levels of government. She said the system has reformed the core Public Finance Management (PFM) systems of budget formulation and execution, public procurement, and financial reporting in the county.
The chief Finance officer further stated that the Nairobi City County Government, under the leadership of Governor Sakaja, has endeavoured to roll out an end e-procurement process through the IFMIS system and, together with the National Treasury, has embarked on a training program aimed at equipping county staff at different levels on the use of the management system.
So far, the county has been able to train procurement officers, accountants, scorers, unsealers, and other users.
The training of Nairobi City County Executives, including the County Executive Committee and Chief Officers, signifies a significant milestone, as the county has now fully transitioned to utilizing IFMIS in all its operations. This system will play a pivotal role in assisting the county to fulfil its commitments, manage its financial transactions, and effectively handle its debts, all while ensuring the quality of its financial statements.
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