NAIROBI, Kenya — Parliament has summoned Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to answer allegations of declining quality and integrity in audit reports from her office, amid claims of collusion between auditors and state agency bosses.
The Public Investment Committee on Governance and the National Assembly’s Education Committee want Gathungu to explain why recent audits appear to downplay or omit serious financial breaches, leaving lawmakers to unearth irregularities on their own.
Committee chair and Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka accused the audit office of “sanitizing” accounts of state corporations and presenting watered-down findings to Parliament.
“The quality of reports is wanting. Parliament will not be used to rubber-stamp illegalities in government. Auditors meet with agencies, they clear them, and bring them to us to rubber-stamp,” Wamboka said during a heated joint session on Wednesday.
Bomachoge Chache MP Alfah Miruka echoed the concerns, warning that both agency heads and auditors who sign off on suspect reports will be held to account.
The committees are expected to meet Gathungu next week, alongside directors who supervised the disputed audits.
The uproar began during examination of the 2023–24 audit for the Kenya Space Agency, where the acting director general Hillary Kipkosgey was forced to defer his appearance after MPs rejected the report.
Wamboka said a fresh audit was necessary, claiming significant issues were omitted while minor concerns were highlighted.
Similar complaints emerged over the audit of the Kenya National Qualifications Authority, with MPs saying glaring anomalies were ignored.
“In some instances, they left out some big issues and only highlighted flimsy ones,” Wamboka said.
According to documents before the committees, auditors flagged only three issues at the Kenya Space Agency and two at the KNQA, despite evidence of deeper governance and financial gaps.
The Space Agency audit noted that 14 positions were filled on an acting basis for over a year — a staffing challenge that MPs said could undermine accountability.
Lawmakers now want answers on alleged “behind-the-scenes negotiations” between auditors and agency executives, warning that compromised oversight threatens public trust in the audit process.
