A surge in public institutions requiring audits across the Coast has forced the Office of the Auditor-General to begin construction of a new regional headquarters in Mombasa, as staff grapple with rising workloads and reliance on costly rented offices.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said the Mombasa and Kilifi regional offices are currently handling about 780 clients, ranging from schools and hospitals to water companies and vocational training centres, with only 84 staff members deployed across the two offices.
She said the pressure reflects the widening scope of public audit responsibilities under devolution, with the Office now required to oversee thousands of entities across both county and national governments.
She added that the project was part of a wider decentralisation drive aimed at strengthening accountability and improving service delivery.
“This milestone not only underscores our institutional growth and independence as an Office, but also reaffirms our dedication to strengthening public accountability, enhancing efficiency, and bringing audit services closer to the people,” she said.
According to the Auditor-General, the Office is currently responsible for auditing more than 11,300 county-level clients, including over 9,000 secondary schools, hundreds of health facilities, vocational training centres and water companies, in addition to more than 1,700 national government entities.
She noted that while the Office has established 16 regional offices, only four are housed in government-owned buildings, with the rest operating from leased premises that are expensive to maintain.
Gathungu said the Mombasa and Kilifi offices face particular strain due to the expanding audit portfolio, which is expected to grow further once lower-level health facilities are fully brought into the audit system.
“The eighty-four (84) staff members in Mombasa and Kilifi Regional Offices are currently operating from leased office space, which is not cost-effective,” she said, adding that the new building is expected to ease pressure and improve long-term efficiency.
She also acknowledged support from the National Assembly, National Treasury, Ministry of Defence and the State Department for Public Works in the implementation of the project.
Once completed, the Mombasa Regional Office is expected to improve working conditions, reduce operational costs, and enhance the timeliness of audit services across the Coast region.
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