Accountants have been warned against using their financial knowledge and professional positions to help people steal public money or conceal corruption.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chairperson David Oginde said accountants and auditors have a responsibility to protect financial records and ensure that public resources are properly accounted for.
Speaking at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) Annual Seminar in Mombasa on Friday, November 13, Oginde said some economic crimes are difficult to investigate because they are carried out with the help of professionals who understand how financial systems work.
“The wickedness that’s done by professionals is professionally done. It’s not an easy crime for the Commission to crack,” he told the delegates.
He asked accountants to be careful about the decisions they make in their day-to-day work, saying their expertise could either help expose financial wrongdoing or make it harder to detect.
Oginde also challenged members of the profession to stand their ground when asked to manipulate figures or overlook questionable transactions.
He said integrity was a personal decision and could not simply be imposed through rules or regulations.
“Integrity is not enforceable – it is a personal choice,” he said.
The EACC chairperson cited accountants who refuse to alter financial records and auditors who stand by their findings even when the conclusions are uncomfortable as examples of the professional conduct expected in the industry.
He further urged Kenyans not to keep quiet when they come across corruption, warning that silence allows those involved to continue with their actions.
“If we keep silent about wrongdoings, then evil will perpetuate,” Oginde said.
His remarks come against the backdrop of recent corruption-related cases involving people who have held accounting positions.
In October, the High Court ordered the forfeiture of assets worth Ksh207.7 million belonging to former Trans Nzoia County accountant Andrew Biketi Musuya after he failed to explain how he acquired wealth that was not supported by his known sources of income.
The properties included two five-storey apartment blocks and a five-bedroom townhouse in Mtwapa, Mombasa County. Other assets included parcels of land in Mombasa, Kilifi and Bungoma, bank and mobile money funds, and motor vehicles.
In a separate case, a former accountant at the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) was fined Ksh130,000 after admitting to using forged academic documents to secure a job at the State corporation.
The former employee was convicted by the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court in October on charges relating to forgery, presenting a fraudulent certificate and using a false document.
At the Mombasa seminar, ICPAK Chairperson Professor Elizabeth Kalunda said the institute was committed to working with the EACC in promoting integrity among accountants.
She said ICPAK would not offer protection to members involved in corruption and pledged to present a report at its next summit on the progress made by members in promoting accountability and ethical conduct.