Kenya's Sh7.28bn diplomatic property programme lags as costs overrun, watchdog finds
Written on
The Controller of Budget says Kenya has committed Sh7.28 billion to embassy and diplomatic property projects abroad, but several renovations are years behind schedule and one has cost more than its original budget.
Kenya has committed Sh7.28 billion to diplomatic property projects abroad, but several missions are still struggling with delayed renovations and escalating costs, the Controller of Budget has said.
According to the National Government Budget Implementation Review Report for FY2025-26, implementation of the purchase, construction, repair and renovation of embassies, chancery buildings, government-owned properties and ambassadors' residences remains uneven, with project status ranging from fully completed to barely a quarter complete across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o found that the State Department for Foreign Affairs had 20 property projects in the programme, with a combined estimated value of Sh7.28 billion.
The largest is the purchase of Kenya's chancery in London, valued at Sh2.67 billion and reported as 100 per cent complete, while renovation of government properties in Washington DC, valued at Sh1 billion, was also completed. But the Sh600 million renovation of government properties in Kinshasa was only 25 per cent complete by June 2026, as was a similarly valued project in Lusaka. A Sh200 million project covering the renovation of government properties and fencing of land allocated in Dodoma, Tanzania, was 23 per cent complete despite having started in November 2016 with an original completion date of June 2025. The Sh500 million renovation programme in Addis Ababa stood at 43 per cent.
Nyakang'o specifically identified Lusaka, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam/Dodoma and Addis Ababa as projects that were behind schedule. The report also exposes an apparent cost-control problem in Abuja, where chancery renovations with an estimated value of Sh15 million reached cumulative expenditure of Sh20 million, equivalent to 133 per cent of the original project value. The Controller of Budget attributed the additional expenditure to a variation in scope after a leaking roof was discovered and required rehabilitation.
The problems are not new, having been persistently captured in previous Controller of Budget reports and Auditor General findings. Auditor General Nancy Gathungu's 2024-25 audit found significant weaknesses in the management of diplomatic properties, including an insufficient maintenance allocation in New York, where the chancery had undergone major renovations costing $2.49 million (about Sh321.6 million) in 2022-23 without funding to furnish the facility. The audit also found that Kenya House in New York, reportedly unoccupied for 13 years, had blocked roof drainage that caused water to leak into ceilings and floors, along with faulty mechanical and firefighting systems.
The latest Auditor General report flagged Sh2.65 billion in unutilised development funds held by Kenyan missions abroad, up from Sh1.8 billion in the previous audit, with the money accumulating over several years because missions failed to surrender unused balances at the end of financial years. Procurement delays, weak project planning, slow implementation and difficulties managing projects under different legal and regulatory systems in host countries were cited as contributing to the delays.