Government ministries and county governments have kept the public in the dark over how more than Sh1 trillion was spent in the past financial year, despite requirements to disclose all contracts on the Public Procurement Information Portal (PPIP).

A review of the portal shows that only contracts worth Sh169.6 billion were published, leaving out details of contracts behind the expenditure of more than Sh1.5 trillion on contractors and suppliers.

The Public Procurement Information Portal was introduced to boost transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.

However, most national government departments and county governments failed to upload contract information for the bulk of the money they spent between July 2024 and June 2025.

The records show that between July and December 2024, counties and national government agencies published tenders worth Sh96.53 billion on the PPIP. August had the highest value of disclosed tenders at Sh24.8 billion, followed by July at Sh14 billion and September at Sh12.13 billion.

From January to June 2025, contract details worth only Sh73 billion were uploaded.

A large portion of that amount, Sh42.5 billion was for the Talanta Sports City Project, meaning that more than half of all tenders published in the second half of the year were tied to a single project.

The Controller of Budget (COB) reported that between July 2024 and March 2025, both counties and national government entities had spent Sh3.16 trillion. Out of this, Sh1.2 trillion went to development projects, which are supposed to be declared on the PPIP.

Breaking it down further, the Controller reported that counties and state agencies spent Sh395.05 billion on development projects, while Sh807.53 billion went to operations and maintenance during the same period.

“The national government’s total expenditure for the first nine months (to March 2025) amounted to Sh2.87 trillion.

This expenditure comprised ministerial development expenditure of Sh338.18 billion, recurrent ministerial expenditure at Sh1.2 trillion, and CFS (Consolidated Fund Service) expenditure at Sh1.31 trillion,” said Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o.

Of the money spent by the national government during the nine months, only the Sh1.31 trillion used for CFS and the Sh470 billion spent on salaries did not require contract disclosures. That means agencies were expected to upload details of tenders worth at least Sh1.07 trillion for development and operational activities.

In the counties, out of a total expenditure of Sh286.5 billion, Sh155 billion went to pay salaries and was not subject to procurement reporting. The remainder was expected to be disclosed on the procurement portal.

The gap between actual spending and what is published has raised serious concerns about transparency in the tendering process, with over Sh1 trillion in public funds going untracked through the official platform.

This lack of disclosure has prompted the government to move forward with plans for a digital procurement system aimed at improving accountability.