Auditor Reveals How Kenyan Government Have Been Mismanaging Funds

Only 1% of Kenyan government spending can be properly accounted for, according to a report by the country's auditor-general released just days after US President Barack Obama warned corruption was holding the country back.


Auditor-General Edward Ouko's annual report, presented to parliament on Tuesday, said that just 1.2% of Kenya's one trillion shilling (€8.9bn) budget for 2013-14 "was incurred lawfully and in an effective way".

The 361-page report is a litany of mismanagement, incompetence, wastage, misspending and possible corruption on a huge scale.

Ouko found that 60% of government spending - roughly 600 billion shillings (€5.3bn) - "had issues" while he "was unable to confirm" whether a further 390 billion shillings (€3.5bn) "was incurred effectively and lawfully".

The report was published two days after Obama left Kenya where he had addressed "the cancer of corruption", calling endemic graft "the single biggest impediment to Kenya growing even faster".

"Too often, here in Kenya corruption is tolerated because that's how things have always been done. People just think that that is sort of the normal state of affairs," said Obama.

The auditor-general's report exposes the everyday nature of malpractice and possible corruption in Kenya's government.

The ministry of health and ministry of transport and infrastructure were among 17 government departments singled out for failing to provide documents to support spending totalling 67 billion shillings (€600m).

"These public funds may not have been utilised lawfully and in an effective manner," said Ouko.

Former transport minister Michael Kamau, was among four ministers suspended in March, and has been charged with abuse of office.

Ten government departments - including the ministry of agriculture and the judiciary - failed to pay bills totalling 17 billion shillings (€147m).