The Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture has urged the Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK) to fully comply with statutory timelines for financial reporting and to align its operations with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act.
This follows an appearance by the Society’s leadership before the Committee, where they were questioned over issues raised in the Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 Financial Year.
Chairperson Emmanuel Wangwe acknowledged the operational realities and funding constraints facing the institution, but emphasized that legal compliance remains mandatory.
“We understand the operational challenges the Society has faced, and we would actually desire that you be granted financial and administrative autonomy for indeed you play a very key role in this country, but you must strictly adhere to the provisions of the PFM Act ,” Hon. Wangwe stated.
Vice Chairperson Caleb Amisi noted that while there is a need to strengthen and ring-fence the Society’s funding particularly to support stalled projects this cannot justify breaches of the law, including delays in submitting financial statements.
“We are aware of operational challenges of the Society and as a Committee we would like to recommend that your budget be ringfenced to support your ongoing projects, but we cannot excuse laxity on adherence to the law”, he noted,
Banissa MP Ahmed Maalim Hassan also weighed in, underscoring the importance of the institution’s mandate in child welfare, while calling for accountability and clarity in reporting.
“The matter of children welfare is very dear to my heart. We want to support to regain your rightful place in the advocacy of the welfare of children, but when we ask questions, we want to get responses that satisfy our curiousity.”Hassan stated.
The lawmakers raised concern over several issues, including delayed project implementation and late submission of financial statements, pressing the Society for answers.
In response, CWSK Chief Executive Officer Irene Mureithi attributed the delays to logistical challenges, especially in consolidating reports from branch offices across the country, and assured the Committee of improved compliance going forward.
“The Society has branch offices across the country. Due to logistics, reports from far-off branches could not arrive in Nairobi in good time for early inclusion in the financial report”, she explained.
On the stalled projects, the management disputed aspects of the Auditor General’s findings, offering updated progress details for six key projects under review.
Mureithi clarified that Mama Ngina Care Centre, which had been reported at 7 per cent completion, was in fact fully complete, but lacked a completion certificate at the time of audit.
“The society has not received any monies for the completion of these projects for the last four years. These centers are crucial as they were intended to receive children from private children homes that were closed by the government”, she said.
She further informed the Committee that the remaining five projects were more than 80 per cent complete, attributing the delays in finalisation to funding shortfalls.
The Society appealed to the lawmakers for intervention to unlock funding for long-stalled projects, some of which have remained incomplete for over 12 years, despite their critical role in supporting the government’s child protection framework following the closure of several private children’s homes.
