KISUMU, Kenya, August – The National Government has initiated a nationwide rollout of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) asset and inventory module to all 47 county governments.
The new module marks a significant escalation in efforts to digitize public assets and clamp down on resource mismanagement.
The move spearheaded by the State Department for Public Investments and Assets Management is designed to establish accurate, real-time asset registers and enforce uniform reporting standards.
It is also aimed at improving the safeguarding of billions of shillings in public resources devolved to the counties.
Public Investments and Assets Management Principal Secretary (PS) Cyrell Odede said that the initiative was a transformative shift in public finance management.
“This is not just a technical upgrade. It is a fundamental shift towards greater accuracy, enhanced safeguarding of public resources, and uniform reporting standards across the public sector,” he stated.
He was speaking in Kisumu on Friday at the conclusion of a week-long sensitization workshop for county officers from the Nyanza and Western regions, including Migori, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Busia, Kisumu, Nyamira, and Siaya.
To ensure a swift transition, Odede issued a direct directive to county governments to immediately submit the names of their official IFMIS users for system mapping.
He further instructed devolved units to expedite the documentation of public assets, such as processing title deeds, and to adopt innovative strategies to monetize them.
“Public assets should not lie dormant. They must be leveraged to generate revenue for service delivery,” Odede urged, suggesting options like utilizing road reserves for advertising to create new income streams.
The rollout to counties follows the successful implementation of the IFMIS fixed asset module across all national government state departments, which completed uploading their asset data in the 2023/24 financial year.
Counties are now expected to demonstrate the same commitment to achieve a seamless, nationwide system.
This digitisation drive is underscored by a looming national deadline: all public entities are legally required to transition from traditional cash-based accounting to a more comprehensive accrual-based accounting system by the year 2027.
This shift makes the creation of accurate and detailed digital asset registers an urgent priority.
The initiative reinforces existing legal mandates under the Public Finance Management Act, which requires county accounting officers to maintain current and reliable asset registers accessible to both the county treasury and the Office of the Auditor-General.
Odede emphasized that sustaining these reforms requires dedicated budgetary allocation from counties for critical aspects of asset management, including continuous staff training.
He concluded by stressing the non-negotiable nature of securing asset ownership, stating, “The process of securing all public assets, such as title deeds, must be completed. This is because secure ownership is the legal foundation upon which all effective asset management is built.”
