A Controller of Budget (CoB) report shows that several flagship projects under President William Ruto's economic agenda have fallen behind schedule despite receiving billions of shillings in funding.
The latest report by Controller of Budget (CoB) Margret Nyakang’o paints a
picture of widespread implementation delays across key sectors.
The findings highlight implementation challenges affecting several flagship government projects.
The report identifies bottlenecks affecting housing, manufacturing,
agriculture, transport, the blue economy, land reforms and public
infrastructure.
In several cases, projects received budget allocations but recorded no
expenditure or minimal physical progress.
Nyakang'o
attributes much of the slow implementation to challenges arising from the
rollout of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, and delayed
procurement approvals.
Technical integration problems with IFMIS, funding constraints and poor
contractor performance are also listed as key challenges.
Among the projects flagged is the Affordable
Housing Programme, the Kenya Kwanza administration's flagship initiative.
Although the State Department for Housing
recorded one of the highest development expenditures at Sh75.75 billion, the
Affordable Housing Fund had achieved only 24 per cent completion by the end of
March.
Just about 20 per cent of the annual
target of constructing 217,654 housing units had been realised.
More than 52,000 units were still at procurement, contract-signing or site
handover stages.
The Building Climate Resilience of the Urban Poor Programme was only four
per cent complete.
The report also raises concerns over projects
intended to drive manufacturing.
Construction of investors' sheds under the
Export Processing Zones Authority had reached only three per cent completion.
This is despite receiving Sh600 million, of which only Sh82 million had been
spent.
Modernisation of the national standards laboratory stood at one per cent,
while warehouse refurbishment projects were only 21 per cent complete despite
some exceeding their completion timelines.
Agricultural value-addition projects, central to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda's strategy of increasing farmer incomes, have also recorded slow progress.
The Sh700 million Narok Milk Factory and coffee factory modernisation
projects have recorded zero progress despite receiving Sh50 million and Sh300
million respectively.
The PAVI Cotton Farmers Cooperative Society project stood at 26 per cent
completion, the Runyenjes Milk Factory at 10 per cent, and modernisation of New
KPCU warehouses at 19 per cent.
In several cases, no expenditure had
been recorded despite budget allocations.
Major transport and logistics projects are
also behind schedule.
The Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone,
expected to transform the Coast into a manufacturing and logistics hub, was
only 14 per cent complete despite its June 2026 completion target.
The e-Mobility Programme had reached five per cent completion, the Horn of
Africa Gateway Development Project 30 per cent, and rehabilitation of the
Longonot-Malaba Metre Gauge Railway 43 per cent.
Nairobi's Bus Rapid Transit Line Two stood at 59 per cent but had exceeded
its implementation timeline.
The report also cites delays in Blue Economy projects.
The Kenya Maritime Data Bank was only 15 per cent done despite its
completion date having passed.
Lake Victoria Maritime Transport Project and Maritime Survival Training
Centre had reached 21 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.
Digital land reforms remain slow, with
digitisation of land registries and development of the National Land Value
Index each at 44 per cent completion.
Construction of new land registries were at 32 per cent and infrastructure
works at the Kenya Institute of Survey and Mapping at 30 per cent.
Beyond the Kenya Kwanza agenda, the CoB highlights longstanding projects that remain incomplete years after they were launched.
Primary school infrastructure projects initiated in 2010 are only 27 per
cent complete, while secondary school infrastructure programmes launched in
2012 stand at 33 per cent.
Road projects, including the
Kipsaraman-Kinyach-Arror Road and the Chobe-Kambi George-Weru-Matundura and
Muti-ini-Thindi Road (Phase II), have recorded little or no progress.
Construction of county headquarters in Nyandarua, Isiolo, Tana River and
Lamu have also missed also missed their completion deadlines.
