TWV Investigations Desk
Nairobi City County’s much-celebrated flagship programmes, particularly the Dishi na County school feeding initiative and the affordable housing drive, are now at the centre of a deepening financial scandal. A comprehensive audit by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, covering the financial year ending June 2024, has revealed a disturbing pattern of irregular expenditure, questionable procurement practices, and poor financial oversight, with billions of shillings unaccounted for.
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The findings raise serious concerns about value for money, transparency, and governance in Nairobi under Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration. The Dishi na County programme, launched to provide hot meals to thousands of school-going children in public primary and ECDE schools, was touted as a game-changer in education and nutrition. However, the Auditor General’s report reveals that the initiative may have been exploited for financial gain.
According to the audit, the County Government paid Sh25 per meal plate to the implementing organisation, Food for Education, even though the contractual terms stipulated that the County should contribute only Sh20 per plate, with parents paying the remaining Sh5 directly to the provider.
The consequence? The implementer effectively earned Sh30 per plate, Sh5 more than legally allowed, translating to an overpayment running into millions. During the year under review, invoices amounting to Sh345.96 million were raised, but only Sh262.26 million was paid, still an amount far above what should have been remitted by the County.
Worse still, the Auditor General flagged the lack of a formal agreement or Memorandum of Understanding between the County and Food for Education during the pilot phase. This omission rendered the legal basis of the contract unclear, raising concerns about how a provider was entrusted with millions in public funds without proper documentation.
In a startling revelation, the report notes that Sh145.7 million (EUR 1,005,000) donated by the Embassy of France to support school meals for 25,000 vulnerable children could not be traced or verified. There were no clear guidelines on how donations were handled, nor were there any accountability frameworks in place.
“In the circumstances, the value for money for the expenditure used in the programme could not be confirmed,” the report reads grimly. The construction of Central Kitchens, key to the sustainability of the feeding programme, also raises red flags. One tender, awarded at Sh32.5 million, saw only two firms submitting bids. Although both met technical criteria, the evaluation report dismissed one bidder at the preliminary stage without justification, pointing to a manipulated procurement process.
On-site inspections at Toi Primary School Kitchen revealed cracks on the building walls, no electricity meter, missing water connections (which were later self-installed by the implementer), and poorly finished pavements. Despite being completed only a year earlier, the kitchen’s condition is already deteriorating.
Essential infrastructure, such as three water tanks (each with a capacity of 5,000 litres), was either missing or improperly installed. Other contracted items, such as driveway lighting worth Sh500,000, were never delivered.
Similarly, at Mutuini Primary School, the kitchen was found to be serving 17 schools, including five secondary schools, for Sh30 per plate, beyond the programme’s intended scope and again in breach of its mandate.
The Auditor General’s report also casts a harsh spotlight on Nairobi’s affordable housing projects, particularly those in Woodley Estate, Bahati, Kariobangi North, and Ziwani. Contracts worth Sh31 billion were signed without clearance from the Attorney General, a mandatory step for public contracts exceeding Sh5 billion, as stipulated by Section 134(2) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
The Woodley housing contract, worth Sh10.3 billion, excluded the value of land, contrary to contractual clauses stating that land formed part of the total cost. In Bahati Estate, the performance bond issued was a mere 0.27% of the contract value, far below legal thresholds, weakening the county’s safeguards against default.
In the Ziwani Estate case, a non-responsive bidder was awarded a contract worth Sh10.1 billion, despite failing at the preliminary evaluation stage. Compounding matters, title deeds for the land involved were missing, casting doubt on ownership and potentially exposing the county to legal disputes or loss of public assets.
“In the circumstances, the ownership of the land, value for money, and regularity for the housing projects contracts… could not be confirmed,” the audit concluded. The management of executive scholarships and ward bursaries also fell short of acceptable standards. A total of Sh3.7 million was disbursed to applicants whose names were absent from the official beneficiary lists. Moreover, documentation such as committee minutes, vetting forms, and head teachers’ recommendations was either missing or incomplete.
An additional Sh2.2 million was distributed to 43 individuals, but auditors could not verify whether they were truly deserving or even real recipients. Over Sh301.4 million in bursaries awarded to over 35,000 students could not be verified either, as receiving institutions failed to provide acknowledgement letters or receipts.
The report paints a grim picture of a County Government that appears more focused on optics than outcomes. Behind the glossy media campaigns promoting free meals, modern kitchens, and affordable housing lie systemic weaknesses in procurement, accountability, and compliance.
Despite these alarming findings, there has been no public response from the Nairobi County Executive addressing the specific audit queries. If the issues raised are not resolved swiftly and transparently, the public risks losing trust in programmes designed to uplift the most vulnerable.
While Governor Sakaja’s administration deserves credit for introducing innovative and socially impactful programmes, the implementation, as revealed by the Auditor General, has been marred by financial opacity, legal non-compliance, and procurement irregularities.
The challenge now lies not in launching new programmes, but in reclaiming public trust through genuine accountability and transparent corrective measures. Only then can Nairobi’s promises of inclusive growth, quality education, and dignified housing be delivered, not just on paper, but in the lives of the people.
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