MPs demand answers over Sh1.8bn locked in foreign missions

The Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly in a meeting with Foreign PS Korir Sing'Oei on September 10, 2025/KORIR SING'OEI

Parliament erupted on Thursday as lawmakers demanded answers over more than Sh1.8 billion lying unspent in Kenyan foreign missions’ accounts, years after it was allocated for development projects and embassy operations.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), while scrutinising the State Department for Foreign Affairs’ audited statements for the year ending June 2023, flagged the funds as a “serious accountability lapse.”

In her audit report, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu reported that Sh1,885,098,283 had accumulated over several years because missions failed to surrender unutilized allocations at the end of each financial year.

Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Abraham Korir Sing’oei defended the figure, insisting the money is not idle.

“The money represents development cash flow balances held across various missions and not idle funds,” he told the committee chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale.

He explained that the Washington, DC, balance included contractors’ retention monies “for works already completed and certified, pending the conclusion of the defects liability period before final handover of the project,” as well as allocations for ongoing refurbishment works.

For London, Sing’oei said the funds were earmarked for the purchase of a Chancery property.

“While the property had been identified and the procurement process finalised, the funds could not be spent because the Attorney General had not yet given concurrence for the procurement of a conveyancing lawyer to prepare the necessary documentation,” he said.

Some of the London balance, he added, came from locally generated revenue through consular services and was later regularised under Supplementary Estimate No. 2 of FY 2023/24.

The PS admitted that some missions failed to transfer their balances to deposit accounts by the close of the financial year, but said new instructions would enforce compliance.

“Going forward, such balances will be placed into deposit accounts, from where payments will be effected for completed works, certified and billed, or for property acquisitions, as in the London case,” he assured.

Lawmakers, however, questioned the ministry’s explanations. Bura MP Yaqub Adow pressed, “What is the difficulty in apportioning this figure across the three items? How do we establish, for instance, how much of the Sh1 billion is tied to Washington and Addis Ababa, how much relates to London development, and how much is attributable to London revenue?”

Aldai MP Marianne Kitany demanded documents on the London property deal. “This raises questions: does it mean the procurement was undertaken without legal representation in the first place?” she asked.

Rarieda MP and senior counsel Otiende Amollo expressed frustration over delays. “Everything else has been completed, yet we are told the delay is due to a pending letter from the Attorney General,” he said.

Sing’oei clarified that the Attorney General had since approved the process. #

“What remains at this stage is the disbursement by the National Treasury of the outstanding Sh400 million required to close the transaction,” he said, adding that the initial deal under the previous administration collapsed, but the new process secured a lower price.

The ministry eventually admitted that only about Sh215 million related to Washington and Addis Ababa, with the bulk linked to the London project.

PAC directed the ministry to provide a comprehensive report on the London purchase and other mission expenditures.