The Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, has been summoned by Members of Parliament to address concerns over what they describe as a worrying decline in the quality of audit reports on state agencies. The National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee on Governance and Education, chaired by Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka, claims that some auditors are colluding with parastatal chiefs to sanitise questionable accounts.
Speaking during a Wednesday session, Wamboka accused the Office of the Auditor General of watering down findings, overlooking glaring irregularities, and effectively clearing chief executives with questionable financial records. He insisted that the committee would not act as a rubberstamp for compromised reports, stressing that auditors have no mandate to give any agency a clean bill of health.
“The quality of reports is wanting. Parliament will not be used to rubberstamp illegalities in government,” Wamboka said. “Auditors meet with agencies; they clear them and bring to us to rubberstamp.”
Bomachoge Chache MP Alfah Miruka echoed the sentiments, warning that the committee would not be reduced to a “conveyor belt” and would hold both CEOs and the auditors who signed off on flawed reports accountable.
The matter came to light during deliberations on the 2023–24 audit report for the Kenya Space Agency. Wamboka halted proceedings after questioning the credibility of the findings, which flagged only three issues mainly staffing concerns despite MPs suspecting more significant breaches. The committee resolved to sanction a fresh audit of the agency’s accounts.
Similar doubts were raised regarding the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA) report, which only identified two queries over four financial years: chronic understaffing 39 staff against an approved 126 and failure to surrender excess Appropriations-in-Aid. Wamboka criticised the omission of more substantial issues in both reports, claiming auditors focused on “flimsy” matters while ignoring critical breaches.
MPs now want Gathungu and the directors directly responsible for these audits to appear before them next week. They are also set to probe alleged behind-the-scenes negotiations between auditors and agency heads, which lawmakers argue undermine the integrity of the public audit process.
“This is unacceptable,” Wamboka said, vowing to protect Parliament’s oversight role. “We want the director who was directly involved in the audit.”
