A Controller of Budget (CoB) report shows that several flagship projects under President William Ruto's economic agenda have fallen behind schedule despite receiving billions of shillings in funding.
The latest report by Controller of Budget (CoB) Margret Nyakang’o paints a picture of widespread implementation delays across key sectors.
The findings highlight implementation challenges affecting several flagship government projects.
The report identifies bottlenecks affecting housing, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, the blue economy, land reforms and public infrastructure.
In several cases, projects received budget allocations but recorded no expenditure or minimal physical progress.
Nyakang'o attributes much of the slow implementation to challenges arising from the rollout of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system, and delayed procurement approvals.
Technical integration problems with IFMIS, funding constraints and poor contractor performance are also listed as key challenges.
Among the projects flagged is the Affordable Housing Programme, the Kenya Kwanza administration's flagship initiative.
Although the State Department for Housing recorded one of the highest development expenditures at Sh75.75 billion, the Affordable Housing Fund had achieved only 24 per cent completion by the end of March.
Just about 20 per cent of the annual target of constructing 217,654 housing units had been realised.
More than 52,000 units were still at procurement, contract-signing or site handover stages.
The Building Climate Resilience of the Urban Poor Programme was only four per cent complete.
The report also raises concerns over projects intended to drive manufacturing.
Construction of investors' sheds under the Export Processing Zones Authority had reached only three per cent completion.
This is despite receiving Sh600 million, of which only Sh82 million had been spent.
Modernisation of the national standards laboratory stood at one per cent, while warehouse refurbishment projects were only 21 per cent complete despite some exceeding their completion timelines.
Agricultural value-addition projects, central to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda's strategy of increasing farmer incomes, have also recorded slow progress.
The Sh700 million Narok Milk Factory and coffee factory modernisation projects have recorded zero progress despite receiving Sh50 million and Sh300 million respectively.
The PAVI Cotton Farmers Cooperative Society project stood at 26 per cent completion, the Runyenjes Milk Factory at 10 per cent, and modernisation of New KPCU warehouses at 19 per cent.
In several cases, no expenditure had been recorded despite budget allocations.
Major transport and logistics projects are also behind schedule.
The Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, expected to transform the Coast into a manufacturing and logistics hub, was only 14 per cent complete despite its June 2026 completion target.
The e-Mobility Programme had reached five per cent completion, the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project 30 per cent, and rehabilitation of the Longonot-Malaba Metre Gauge Railway 43 per cent.
Nairobi's Bus Rapid Transit Line Two stood at 59 per cent but had exceeded its implementation timeline.
The report also cites delays in Blue Economy projects.
The Kenya Maritime Data Bank was only 15 per cent done despite its completion date having passed.
Lake Victoria Maritime Transport Project and Maritime Survival Training Centre had reached 21 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.
Digital land reforms remain slow, with digitisation of land registries and development of the National Land Value Index each at 44 per cent completion.
Construction of new land registries were at 32 per cent and infrastructure works at the Kenya Institute of Survey and Mapping at 30 per cent.
Beyond the Kenya Kwanza agenda, the CoB highlights longstanding projects that remain incomplete years after they were launched.
Primary school infrastructure projects initiated in 2010 are only 27 per cent complete, while secondary school infrastructure programmes launched in 2012 stand at 33 per cent.
Road projects, including the Kipsaraman-Kinyach-Arror Road and the Chobe-Kambi George-Weru-Matundura and Muti-ini-Thindi Road (Phase II), have recorded little or no progress.
Construction of county headquarters in Nyandarua, Isiolo, Tana River and Lamu have also missed also missed their completion deadlines.
