MPs summon Treasury PS Chris Kiptoo over Sh100 million Inua Jamii budget cut

The National Assembly's Committee on Social Protection has summoned Treasury Principal Secretary (PS) Chris Kiptoo to explain the withdrawal of over Sh100 million from the Inua Jamii programme.

The committee invoked Article 125 of the Constitution to compel the PS to attend the meeting after he skipped three previous invitations.

Kiptoo now faces the possibility of arrest or a Sh500,000 fine if he fails to attend the upcoming session.

The committee has insisted that the PS must provide clarification on the reasons behind the clawback of the funds allocated to Inua Jamii, a government programme aimed at providing financial assistance to vulnerable Kenyans.

The situation unfolded after Kiptoo delegated Johnah Wala, the Treasury Director of Accounting Services, to attend the committee's meeting, despite the PS being initially invited.

This decision frustrated the committee, with its chair, Thika Town MP Alice Ng'ang'a, expressing disappointment over Kiptoo’s absence.

"We called a meeting that never took place last Friday because Dr Kiptoo was absent. We rescheduled the meeting to Wednesday, December 4, 2024, but again the PS is not present to discuss this extremely important issue of clawback of budget for Inua Jamii," she said.

"Because the PS has decided to send us the officer, we sent back Mr Wala without any apology. The committee has resolved to invoke the provisions of Article 125 of the Constitution and Standing Order 131 to issue summons to the Principal Secretary of, National Treasury. This meeting stands adjourned," Ng'ang'a said.

The committee has not yet specified the exact date for PS Kiptoo's appearance, but the summons will include detailed instructions.

Last week, when Kiptoo again failed to appear, the meeting proceeded with Wala in attendance.

Wala informed the committee that he had responses from the PS but did not present any written apology, further aggravating the situation.

The PS was expected to provide an explanation for the clawback of Sh100 million intended for the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme.

The programme, designed to assist the most vulnerable in society, including orphans, vulnerable children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, allocates Sh2,000 per month to each beneficiary through registered financial institutions.

Ng'ang'a took particular issue with PS Kiptoo's failure to attend the meeting while other officials, such as Social Protection and Senior Citizens Services PS Joseph Motari, honoured the invitation.

"This meeting was called to deal with the funding mechanisms for Inua Jamii. But the PS Treasury has sent a director who has admitted that he did not know exactly what was to be transacted. This meeting cannot proceed until the PS is here," Ng'ang'a noted.

At the heart of the controversy is the return of more than Sh100 million to the National Treasury from the Inua Jamii programme, funds which the Social Protection Ministry intended to redistribute to new needy beneficiaries.

The Treasury requires that any undisbursed or uncollected funds be returned to the exchequer and reallocated to other government projects.

However, the Social Protection Ministry argues that these funds should remain within the ministry, to be used for further transfers to vulnerable beneficiaries.

Currently, beneficiaries of the Inua Jamii programme must visit financial institutions to collect their monthly stipends, which are distributed by about six contracted banks and their sub-contracted agents in various wards and sub-counties.