The Controller of Budget (CoB) Margaret Nyakang’o has flagged three State Departments for spending over Sh14 billion in the six months to December 2024 with little to show for it.
Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
She said State agencies, including the State Departments for Public Works, East African Community (EAC), and Immigration and Citizen Services, were allocated huge budgets to deliver crucial services over the period but did not provide evidence of tangible results.
“For example, the State Department for Public Works recorded a total expenditure of Sh1.34 billion but no outputs in the first six months of the financial year 2024/25, casting doubts on how the funds already spent were put to use,” Dr Nyakang’o pointed out.
The CoB also singled out State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services for spending Sh12.66 billion over six months although its actual outputs from service delivery were below 35 per cent. The spending at the State Department was on E-citizen services and immigration services.
“However, actual outputs from delivery of services were below 35 per cent for all the programmes and sub-programmes it implemented in the period under review,” COB Nyakang’o stated about the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services. The CoB also noted that a review of expenditures by the State Department for EAC showed anomalies in output.
Kevit Desai, the Principal Secretary in the State Department for the East African Community (EAC).
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“Non-financial performance analysis indicated that no changes in actual outputs from service delivery have occurred,” Dr Nyakang’o said about the State Department for EAC.
“In the first half of the financial year 2024/2025 we noted instances of significant spending by MDAs without corresponding outputs or depressed service delivery,” the COB report states.
Dr Nyakang’o urged the government to continuously monitor budget implementation and strict adherence to results based allocations of resources to spur service delivery.
The COB revelations come amid concerns over poor productivity in Kenya’s public service, which was ranked 155/189 countries by the International Labour Organisation in 2023.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has also pointed to low productivity in the public service as one of the main problems haunting the government, even as it bears a wage bill of more than Sh1 trillion annually.
“The latest study identified inefficient service delivery; low productivity; and high operational costs as the impact of the inability to attract and retain specific skills in the public service,” former SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich said in an end-of-term report last year.
