Kenya losing over Sh600 billion in stalled public projects, says PMI
The Project Management Institute (PMI) says this huge loss is not only slowing the country’s development but also eroding the confidence of investors.
Kenya is losing billions of shillings in unfinished public projects, with new data showing that more than Sh600 billion has already gone down the drain because of poor planning, corruption, and weak supervision.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) says this huge loss is not only slowing the country’s development but also eroding the confidence of investors.
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The institute, which trains and certifies project managers worldwide, revealed that abandoned projects cut across infrastructure, water, energy, and ICT.
Among them are the Aror and Kimwarer dams, once launched with fanfare and heavy budgets, but still lying incomplete years later.
Alan Maturu, PMI’s director of education and professional development, said the problem is larger than individual projects and is now weighing down the wider economy.
“These failures not only stall growth but also deny Kenyans the benefits of investments meant to transform their lives. From dams and roads to ICT systems, money has been poured into projects that remain unfinished or fail to deliver value,” he said.
According to PMI Kenya president Maureen Mbithi, most of the challenges are linked to corruption, unnecessary bureaucracy, late contractor payments, and the fact that many projects are run by unqualified managers.
“Many initiatives are being run by people who are unqualified in the project management space. We need professional project managers in every project to ensure efficiency and accountability,” she said.
The institute estimates that Kenya has only 150,000 certified project managers against a need of 247,000 by 2035. PMI is therefore pushing for greater uptake of its 16 certifications that cover areas such as construction, sustainability, and risk management.
Mbithi stressed that sustainable projects require skilled experts, warning that the absence of professionals will continue to waste resources.
Maturu also noted that projects often fail because experts like engineers and architects are not properly coordinated.
“We want to make sure you cannot call yourself a project manager unless you’re actually certified,” he said.
“This would bind professionals to a code of ethics and prevent common failures like collapsed buildings or roads without proper drainage.”
To stop the wastage, PMI is lobbying Parliament to approve a bill that would regulate project management and lock out unqualified individuals from handling state projects.
“Countries like China have excelled because anyone involved in project management is a certified professional bound by codes of ethics and global best practice. Kenya must move in the same direction,” Mbithi said.
PMI added that the Sh600 billion already lost equals around five per cent of Kenya’s GDP, an amount large enough to fund critical needs such as health care, food security, and education.
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