NAIROBI, Kenya – A staggering Sh1 trillion in public spending was not disclosed on Kenya’s official procurement portal in the last financial year, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability in how both national and county governments award contracts.
An analysis of data from the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP) reveals that between July 2024 and June 2025, only Sh169.6 billion worth of tenders were published—despite the government spending over Sh1.5 trillion on suppliers and contractors during the same period.
This represents less than 12 percent of procurement-related expenditure disclosed to the public, in contravention of legal requirements mandating full publication of government contracts.
The revelations, first reported by Daily Nation, come at a time when the State is pushing to digitise procurement processes under a new e-procurement system to tighten oversight and close corruption loopholes.
Massive Disclosure Gaps
Data from the Controller of Budget shows that between July 2024 and March 2025, national and county governments spent Sh3.16 trillion, with Sh1.2 trillion allocated to development expenditure—most of which is subject to public procurement laws.
Of the Sh2.87 trillion spent by national government ministries alone, Sh338.18 billion went to development projects, while Sh1.2 trillion funded recurrent operations.
Another Sh1.31 trillion was used for Consolidated Fund Services (CFS), which includes debt repayments and pensions.
Only CFS and salary payments, totalling about Sh1.78 trillion, are exempt from procurement disclosures.
This leaves a minimum of Sh1.07 trillion that should have been publicly declared through tender notices—yet wasn’t.
Counties also fared no better. Of their total Sh286.5 billion spend, just Sh155 billion went to salaries.
The remaining Sh131.5 billion, much of it tied to procurement, was largely unaccounted for on the portal.
Heavy Reliance on a Single Project
Even among the tenders that were published, the figures tell a worrying story.
In the second half of the 2024/25 financial year, only Sh73 billion in tenders were disclosed—more than half of which (Sh42.5 billion) were linked to just one project: the Talanta Sports City.
This means that outside of that high-profile development, little else was made transparent to the public or oversight bodies.
The first half of the financial year saw disclosures of Sh96.53 billion worth of tenders, with August (Sh24.8 billion), July (Sh14 billion), and September (Sh12.13 billion) being the most active months for publishing tenders. However, the pace declined sharply thereafter, and never recovered.
Calls for Reform and Full Digitisation
The glaring omission of over Sh1 trillion in tender information has fuelled renewed calls for procurement reform and full digitisation to curb graft, seal leakage points, and enhance public trust.
The government has pledged to fast-track implementation of a digital procurement platform that will integrate with financial reporting systems and the Treasury to ensure real-time tracking and public access to contract data.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has in the past flagged systemic gaps in Kenya’s procurement process, citing poor oversight of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and unauthorised spending running into billions of shillings.
