Key offices spent nearly all budgets but delivered little, parliamentary review finds
The Executive Office of the President spent only 51 per cent of its development budget, with major projects, including the modernisation of the government press, scaled down.
A parliamentary review has revealed that several key government offices spent nearly all funds allocated to them, yet delivered little of what was expected.
The National Assembly Security Committee scrutinised the financial performance of 12 major ministries and state agencies during the 2024-25 fiscal year, including the Office of the President, the Deputy President’s Office, the National Police Service (NPS), as well as immigration and internal security departments.
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The Committee’s findings show that while the average budget absorption among the agencies was 98 per cent, service delivery lagged far behind. In some cases, departments exceeded their budgets, yet failed to meet their set targets.
Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo, who chairs the Committee, observed that “There are circumstances where MDAs recorded an absorption rate of 100 per cent of the budget and on the other hand, recorded a low achievement of the key performance indicators or targets.”
The report stresses that such high spending should directly result in better services. “Such high absorption should, however, translate to an increase in service delivery,” it says.
Despite this, several critical targets were missed. The National Police Service Commission (NPSC), for instance, spent 99.3 per cent of its Sh1 billion budget but could not recruit 5,000 officers or 1,400 people from marginalised communities.
Similarly, the State Department for Immigration faced challenges despite issuing millions of passports and IDs.
The Executive Office of the President spent only 51 per cent of its development budget, with major projects, including the modernisation of the government press, scaled down.
The Committee partly blamed the National Treasury for contributing to the problem, citing three supplementary budgets during the year, with the final revision rushed through less than a week before the financial year ended.
MPs said such last-minute changes undermine proper planning and reduce accountability, making it difficult for ministries and agencies to deliver.
The Committee also noted operational constraints, highlighting that only three out of eleven police aircraft were functional, limited vehicle repairs, and an unfinished Level 4 hospital for officers costing Sh833 million.
Development initiatives also struggled due to inadequate funding. The National Police Service (NPS) received just Sh585 million for six projects, completed only two, and left 15 projects stalled, including police housing and stations worth Sh3.8 billion.
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