Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakang'o when she appeared before the Senate Finance and Budget Committee at County Hall, Nairobi on March 11, 2025.
The Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o has called out the State Department for Public Works for spending Sh1.34 billion with no evidence of work done, raising suspicion of possible financial mismanagement.
The State Department was originally allocated Sh5.01 billion, which was revised downwards to Sh3.91 billion in the mini-budget. The allocation was to fund four programmes including construction of new government buildings, pedestrian access paths, and regulation of the construction industry.
Records by the CoB showed that the State Department for Public Works spent Sh1.34 billion in the six months that ended December 2024 but with nothing to show for it.
“The State Department for Public Works spent Sh3.69 million (2 per cent) from the development budget and Sh1.34 billion (36 per cent) on the recurrent budget, implying delayed execution of the development budget,” Dr Nyakang'o said.
“No outputs were recorded in the first six months of the financial year 2024/25, casting doubts on how funds amounting to Sh1.34 billion already spent were put to use.”
The department was to complete set up of footbridges but the CoB says none had been done as of December 31, 2024.
The department also had a target to process, review, or award 20 term contracts but the CoB observed that none of these were accomplished in the period under review. The CoB said not a single one of the 500 buildings set to be inspected and audited was assessed.
Based on these missed targets, Dr Nyakang’o questioned how the State Department’s Sh1.34 billion in the first six months of the financial year 2024/2025 was put to use.
In the period none of the projects had a funding allocation from the ministry except Sh16 million set or construction of the Ololunga- Olepolos B Bridge.
Of this amount, only Sh200,000 was slated as expenditure adding to the mystery of the Sh1.34 billion. “An analysis of the projects the State Department for Public Works implemented indicated that no projects were funded during the first half of the financial year 2024/2025,” said the CoB.
