Audit Reveals Trillions of Shillings Bypassed Kenya’s Official Treasury Fund

A performance audit by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has uncovered a massive discrepancy in the handling of national funds, revealing that a significant portion of revenue collected by the National Treasury never reached the official exchequer account as mandated by the Constitution.

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The audit report, which has sparked immediate calls for accountability, indicates that while the National Treasury collected the full amount of revenue, only KSh 2.67 trillion was deposited into the Consolidated Fund over the reviewed period. The Constitution requires all national government money to be paid into this fund to ensure proper parliamentary oversight and public accountability. The report does not explicitly allege theft but highlights the substantial, untraced portion of funds that circumvented the legally required channel.

The findings have ignited fierce criticism from transparency advocates, who directly linked the missing funds to Kenya’s escalating public debt, which now stands at over KSh 10 trillion.

In a post on his official X account, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah amplified the report’s findings, stating, “Nancy Gathungu’s performance audit shows the National Treasury collected the funds, but only KSh 2.67 trillion reached the Consolidated Fund as required by the Constitution for oversight.” He noted that the report stops short of alleging theft but underscores the lack of traceability for a huge sum of public money.

This financial gap has intensified longstanding concerns about the management of Kenya’s debt. Critics, including veteran lawyer Paul Muite, have repeatedly argued that a large portion of borrowed money is not funding new development projects but is instead being used to repay previous loans, a cycle that creates little public benefit while burying the country under more debt.

The audit report provides a potential explanation for these concerns, suggesting that funds operating outside the scrutiny of the Consolidated Fund could be easily diverted for opaque repayments or other off-budget expenditures.

As of press time, officials from the National Treasury have remained silent on the audit’s findings, offering no explanation for the whereabouts of the funds or the breach of constitutional procedure. The silence from government quarters has only fueled demands for a comprehensive parliamentary investigation into the matter.

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