The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture has directed the Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK) to meet all legal timelines for financial reporting and align its operations with the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, following concerns raised in the latest audit.
The directive came after the Society’s leadership appeared before the committee to respond on Tuesday to queries flagged in the Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year, with lawmakers pressing for accountability over delays in financial submissions and stalled projects.
Committee chairperson Emmanuel Wangwe said although the institution is facing real operational and funding challenges, it must still comply with the law.
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“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 said the committee supports efforts to secure stable funding for the Society, especially to revive stalled projects, but insisted that legal obligations cannot be ignored.
“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 stressed the importance of the institution’s role in protecting children, while calling for clear and satisfactory responses when concerns are raised.
“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.
Lawmakers questioned delays in implementing projects and the late submission of financial statements, seeking explanations from the Society’s management.
In response, Chief Executive Officer Irene Mureithi said the delays were caused by logistical difficulties in collecting reports from branch offices across the country, noting that some documents did not reach Nairobi in time to be included in the final report.
“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 projects flagged by the Auditor General, the Society disputed parts of the findings and gave updated progress reports on six key projects under review.
Mureithi said the Mama Ngina Care Centre, earlier reported as only seven per cent complete, is actually finished but did not have a completion certificate at the time the audit was conducted.
“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 added that the remaining five projects are more than 80 per cent complete, with delays mainly linked to lack of funding.
The Society appealed to the committee to help unlock funds for the projects, some of which have remained incomplete for more than 12 years despite their importance in supporting the country’s child protection system after the closure of several private children’s homes.
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