Nearly half of State agencies in deficit

 

Close to a half of State entities booked deficits in the financial year ended June 2023, reflecting dismal performance due to poor management of public entities.

Data published by the Treasury reveals that 239 out of 510 entities —State corporations, semi-autonomous government agencies and public funds created to undertake strategic functions — were in the red.

An analysis reveals that Kenya Railways was the leading loss-maker of the State-run agencies, booking a full-year deficit of Sh33.56 billion, followed by the Roads Annuity Fund at Sh12.8bn.

Some of the entities posting deficits may not be directly involved in the sale of goods and services and, therefore, depend on transfers and grants for their operations, inhibiting their ability to post a surplus.

The continued poor performance of parastatals and other State-owned enterprises comes amid increased talks of privatisation to help the State rid itself of loss-making entities.

Poor management of these agencies has been blamed for dismal performance that has led to a massive pilferage of public funds through corruption and other forms of theft.

Some 510 agencies posted a net surplus of Sh196.4 billion, representing a 36.7 percent growth from the Sh143.6 billion reported in previously. The growth in surplus was due to the improvement in revenue, which increased by six percent to Sh1.45 trillion , beating growth in spending.

The entities despite the majority being in business have other channels of raising revenue, sale of goods and services brought in Sh740.8 billion representing 51 percent followed by transfers and grants that accounted for a quarter of total revenue.

The Central Bank of Kenya was the best performer of the year booking a net gain of Sh145.5 billion followed by the Public Service Superannuation Fund at Sh44.6 billion and the National Social Security Fund at Sh25.5 billion.

The Treasury also revealed that 16 entities did not report their financial performance in the review period, up from 11 in year ended June 2022, raising questions on accountability.

Learning institutions dominated the list of organisations that didn’t disclose their performance while other notable poor performers were the Kenya Revenue Authority, Higher Education Loans Board, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Wildlife Service and the University of Nairobi.

By TIMOTHY ODINGA