MP Muchangi decries chronic undermining of oversight institutions
By Faith Lagat, July 24, 2025Runyenjes MP Karemba Muchangi has sounded the alarm over the systematic weakening of Kenya’s key oversight bodies, warning that chronic underfunding and lack of enforcement powers pose a serious threat to constitutional governance.
While moving a motion on July 24, 2025, on the Second Report of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, the legislator highlighted the deteriorating state of institutions mandated to safeguard public resources, including the Office of the Controller of Budget (CoB), the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), and the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).
Muchangi, who shared the motion, termed the persistent under-resourcing of these offices as “perhaps the most insidious threat” to governance, insisting the issue was not a matter of budgetary constraints but a deliberate strategy to dilute accountability.
According to Muchangi, the Office of the Auditor General is expected to audit all public funds yet receives only 0.2 percent of the national budget. He described this as a glaring contradiction that signals intentional sabotage of oversight work.
“When the Office of the Auditor General receives merely 0.2 percent of the national budget despite being tasked with auditing 100 percent of public funds, we create a system designed for failure,” Muchangi said.
He further noted that global standards recommend that countries allocate at least 0.5 percent of national revenue to supreme audit institutions—a threshold Kenya falls far short of. He said that far from being underperforming, these institutions are being systematically incapacitated.
Structural barriers
Muchangi challenged the notion that the inefficiency in these offices stems from internal weaknesses, stating that the real issue lies in external interference and design flaws.
“The evidence before us paints a picture of institutions struggling to fulfil their constitutional roles not due to lack of competence or commitment but due to deliberate structural impediments that render them ineffective,” he said.
He argued that such barriers are calculated to frustrate efforts at transparency, accountability, and prudent resource management in both national and county governments.
Mere commentators
Equally troubling, Muchangi said, is the lack of legal authority among the institutions to enforce their findings or recommendations. As a result, they are often left issuing advisories that public officials can ignore without consequence.
“The Controller of Budget can raise objections to irregular expenditures, the CRA can recommend fiscal responsibility measures, and the Auditor General can flag financial improprieties, but none of them has the legal mandate to compel compliance,” he said.
He called for urgent legal and institutional reforms to restore the credibility and effectiveness of oversight agencies, warning that continued inaction would only entrench a culture of impunity.
Muchangi’s sentiments have reignited public debate around the state of constitutional implementation in Kenya, with stakeholders calling on Parliament to act swiftly to restore public trust in the country’s accountability framework.