Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has raised concerns after discovering that several government ministries, departments, and agencies could not properly explain how more than KSh 1.1 billion was spent during the 2024/2025 financial year.
In her latest audit report, Gathungu revealed that some government entities failed to provide supporting documents for payments they made.
As a result, auditors could not verify whether the money was used for legitimate government activities.
“During the year under review, the audit revealed unsupported expenditure totaling KSh 1,119,053,742 under Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA),” Gathungu stated in the report.
She warned that the lack of proper records creates serious accountability concerns.
“In addition, failure by the entities to fully support payments casts doubt on the authenticity of the reported expenditure. It is also an indication of weak internal controls and governance in the affected entities,” she said.
Gathungu further cautioned that poor accountability could result in public funds being lost or misused.
“Similarly, lack of accountability could lead to losses, wastage and theft of public resources,” she added.
According to the report, the State Department for Foreign Affairs had the largest query, with KSh 470.4 million in trade and other payables that could not be adequately explained.
The Judiciary was also flagged over KSh 423 million in unsupported employee costs.
Other concerns were raised at the State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs, where auditors found a KSh 22 million discrepancy linked to the Kenya Social Economic Inclusion Project.
Meanwhile, the State Department for Culture, the Arts and Heritage was unable to provide supporting documents for KSh 3.6 million spent on domestic travel.
The audit also uncovered problems involving government land ownership. Eighteen public entities were found to be occupying land without title deeds or ownership documents.
Among those affected is the Teachers Service Commission, which lacks title deeds for eight of its nine land parcels.
The State Department for the Blue Economy and Fisheries was also found to be missing ownership documents for 393 parcels of land.
To address the problem, Gathungu urged key government institutions to work together and resolve the issue.
“The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, the National Land Commission and The National Treasury should work together to resolve the issue of public land,” she recommended.
