LAWI SULTAN
Kenya's persistent struggle with public accountability has reached a critical juncture, where the Office of the Auditor General's reports, despite their meticulous revelations of financial malpractices, often vanish into oblivion after being tabled in Parliament. This cycle of exposure without enforcement breeds widespread despondency among citizens, who watch billions in public funds squandered without consequence.
Senator Okiya Omtatah's August 12, 2025, appearance on a popular radio station laid bare the depth of this dysfunction. During his time on the Public Accounts Committee, 148 reports recommending action were forwarded to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, only to receive no updates, a failure he attributed to the EACC's severe capacity constraints, including limited manpower, civilian leadership and absence in counties like Busia.
The public lamentations of the Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury, John Mbadi, with regard to resistance from government teams' usage of the newly established e-government procurement system are a stark pointer to where the problem lies.
Yet, a deeper examination of parliamentary Hansard records since 2010 underscores that this is no isolated incident but a systemic failure spanning over a decade, with OAG reports consistently received, debated and recommended for action, only to languish in implementation limbo.
To shatter this impasse, Kenya must render OAG reports self-executing, empowering the Auditor General with a robust Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism and imposing severe sanctions for non-compliance, thereby restoring public trust through swift, independent enforcement.
Parliament’s Hansard chronicles a disheartening pattern since the 2010 constitution bolstered the OAG's independence and mandate. In the early years from 2010 to 2015, reports on entities like the Kenya Dairy Board for the financial year 2011-12 and the Integrated Financial Management Information System spanning 2010–2014 were tabled and committed to the PAC, yielding recommendations for systemic audits, the EACC probes into mismanagement and capacity building through consultancies. Yet, implementation faltered.
Hansard debates on February 11, 2015, lamented reports "gathering dust", with EACC delays on irregularities dating back to 2006-07 persisting unresolved, exacerbated by OAG staff shortages and production lags of up to four years.
This era saw the enactment of the 2015 Public Audit Act as a partial remedy, enhancing the OAG's powers, but recurring issues like corruption normalisation, unsurrendered imprest and unsupported expenditures continued unabated.
As devolution took root from 2016 to 2020, the volume of reports surged, particularly on county finances, with the 2014-15 national government audit examined by the PAC and debated on November 29, 2018, alongside revisited IFMIS critiques.
Recommendations intensified. Surcharges for staggering pending bills amounting to Sh632 billion, recovery of Sh3.25 billion in imprest and EACC investigations into Sh392 million in unsupported payments, coupled with calls for lifestyle audits of officials and procurement reforms. Senate County Public Accounts Committee sessions, such as those on December 4, 2024, echoed these for counties.
However, Hansard reveals partial resolutions at best—some imprest recovered—but overarching backlogs endured, with EACC probes stalled, IFMIS flaws unaddressed despite funding, and political interference hindering access to information. By July 15, 2020, parliamentarians decried the non-implementation of many recommendations, noting a deterrent effect from OAG scrutiny yet persistent pending bills and unimplemented reforms since 2010.
The trend has only worsened in recent years, from 2021 to 2025, as evidenced by PAC reports on 2020-21 tabled on February 22, 2024, and 2021-22 on June 30, 2025, alongside CPAC county audits. Recommendations evolved to demand binding directives for fund recovery, surcharges under Article 226(5), and referrals to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations or Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to bypass the EACC, with urgent audits of payables within three months and scrutiny of revenue shortfalls.
Debates on March 13, 2025, highlighted non-compliance with 2010–2015 recommendations, while May 2, 2023, sessions noted delayed corrections post-OAG reports.
The Public Audit Act (2015) must be revised to authorise binding OAG directives, including automatic surcharges, suspensions and referrals for fraud or misappropriation. Central to this is integrating an M&E unit within the OAG to track compliance timelines—30 days for investigations, 60 for fund recovery—via a public dashboard publishing quarterly reports.
Non-compliance would incur severe sanctions such as fines for misappropriated funds, dismissal or debarment from public office, criminal escalation to the DCI/ODPP, and asset seizure. Safeguards, such as an independent tribunal for reviews, ensure due process without diluting enforcement. This bypasses the EACC's documented failures, evidenced in the Hansard's stalled probes.
Ultimately, Hansard's decade-long narrative of received reports, unheeded recommendations and stalled enforcement since 2010 exposes a system that exposes corruption but fails to eradicate it, perpetuating despondency.
Self-executing OAG reports, fortified by M&E and sanctions, would transform audits into actionable justice. By empowering the Auditor General to enforce with authority, Kenya can break the cycle, ensuring public funds serve the people and restoring faith in governance before another report fades into irrelevance.
Social consciousness theorist, corporate trainer and speaker, agronomist consultant for golf courses and sports fields and author of 'The Gigantomachy of Samaismela' and 'The Trouble with Kenya: McKenzian Blueprint'
