NAIVASHA, Kenya — The government has embarked on a nationwide initiative to digitise all public investment projects in a sweeping effort to improve transparency, enhance oversight, and curb the chronic misuse of public funds.
At the heart of the reforms is the Public Investment Management Information System (PIMIS), a digital platform that will capture every national and county project — new, ongoing, stalled, or abandoned — creating Kenya’s first unified repository of public investment data.
Public Investments and Assets Management Principal Secretary Cyrell Odede said more than 2,000 legacy projects have already been uploaded, marking a major step toward centralised and verifiable tracking of Kenya’s multibillion-shilling development portfolio.
Speaking during a system-enhancement workshop in Naivasha, Odede said the platform will follow the entire investment cycle, from project identification and budgeting to implementation and evaluation.
“This system ensures prudent use of public resources by providing real-time visibility of all investments at the touch of a button,” Odede said, noting that the digitisation drive aligns with the Public Finance Management Regulations, 2020.
PIMIS is designed to tackle long-standing weaknesses repeatedly flagged by the Auditor-General — including unsupported payments, inflated costs, irregular procurement, and stalled projects. It is expected to offer a single source of truth, eliminating the opacity that has historically allowed financial leakages to go undetected.
The platform will also link with key government systems, such as:
- IFMIS
- E-procurement modules
- Kenya Revenue Authority’s Integrated Customs Management System
This interoperability is intended to ensure seamless verification of expenditure, procurement, and revenue data.
Odede urged county and national ICT teams to ensure smooth migration into the platform and strictly document project details to guarantee accuracy and compliance.
According to the Auditor-General’s 2023/24 report, the national government spent Sh3.88 trillion, including:
- Sh1.6 trillion in recurrent expenditure
- Sh1.77 trillion in Consolidated Fund services
- Sh500 billion in development spending
However, the audit found that 24 national projects were either stalled or significantly behind schedule, undermining service delivery and value for money.
County governments spent an estimated Sh385 billion, representing 8 per cent of national expenditure, while collecting Sh53 billion in own-source revenue — up from Sh42 billion the previous year.
But oversight challenges persist:
- Sh5.38 billion in expenditure across 32 counties lacked supporting documentation.
- 248 county projects, valued at over Sh20 billion, were stalled or abandoned.
The government hopes that the full rollout of PIMIS will curb these failures, strengthen planning and budgeting, and ensure taxpayers benefit from the timely completion of public projects.
Odede said the digital transformation will anchor a culture of accountability, transparency, and data-driven decision-making across both levels of government.
