NAIROBI, Kenya– The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) has raised concern over county governments and other employers for allowing unqualified individuals to hold key accounting roles, warning that the trend is undermining financial accountability and fueling the collapse of firms.
ICPAK Chairperson Elizabeth Kalunda said the problem had become widespread, with devolved units among the institutions where uncertified staff were preparing reports that failed to meet professional standards.
She cautioned that such practices have resulted in misleading financial records, poor decision-making, and loss of public funds.
“Quarks are those people who masquerade as accountants, and they are given roles that accountants are supposed to do. Out of that, they end up coming up with opinions or reports that don’t reflect the true performance of firms,” Kalunda said during the institute’s inaugural Town Hall forum.
“This makes decision makers take the wrong direction, leading to the collapse of firms.
We are coming out strongly as a regulator to ensure that those who masquerade as accountants will not be able to practice,” she added.
Kalunda urged both national and county governments, as well as private institutions, to ensure accounting roles are only filled by qualified professionals.
She that Kenya already has a large pool of certified accountants, yet many remain unemployed while quacks are hired into critical positions.
“In Kenya, we don’t have a shortage of accountants. We have over 35,000 qualified accountants, many of whom are not employed. Positions should therefore be filled by professionals because we don’t have a scarcity of skills in the country,” she said.
She revealed that ICPAK has confirmed instances where reports tabled before Parliament and Senate did not meet accounting standards because they had been prepared by individuals who are not members of the institute.
While she did not disclose the counties involved, Kalunda said ICPAK is already engaging devolved administrations to curb the malpractice.
