A new report has revealed slow progress in the renovation of several Kenyan diplomatic missions abroad, despite hundreds of millions of shillings allocated for the projects in the current financial year.
According to the Controller of Budget’s National Government Budget Implementation Review Report, renovation works at multiple missions recorded no expenditure between July and December 2025, raising concerns over stalled or delayed implementation. The report captures the first six months of the 2025-26 financial year.
The report shows that the government had allocated Sh345 million during the period for refurbishment of diplomatic properties in at least eight missions. These include Kinshasa, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Beijing, Abuja, Islamabad, Kampala and Harare. However, none of the projects recorded spending in the first half of the financial year.
Among the projects with the largest budgets is the renovation of government-owned properties in Kinshasa, valued at Sh600 million, which had been allocated Sh120 million for the six-month period. Despite the allocation, no funds had been spent as of December 31, 2025, and the project remains only five per cent complete.
Similarly, renovations of government-owned diplomatic properties in Addis Ababa, estimated to cost Sh500 million, had been allocated Sh150 million during the review period but recorded no expenditure. The project has so far reached only 13 per cent completion, even though it began in July 2019 and is scheduled for completion in June 2026 — in just about three months.
The report also indicates slow progress in other missions. Renovation works in Dar es Salaam, including fencing of government land in Dodoma, were allocated Sh5 million but had no spending recorded, with the project standing at 21 per cent completion.
Other smaller projects also recorded zero spending during the period despite allocations. These include refurbishment of diplomatic properties in Kampala and Harare, each estimated at Sh20 million, as well as chancery renovations in Abuja and upgrades to the embassy and ambassador’s residence in Beijing.
The Islamabad chancery and ambassadorial residence renovation, valued at Sh70 million, is among the most advanced, with 70 per cent completion, while Beijing and Abuja stand at 67 per cent completion. However, even these projects registered no new expenditure during the six-month review period.
The findings raise fresh questions about the pace of implementing infrastructure projects under the State Department for Foreign Affairs, particularly in the maintenance of Kenya’s diplomatic assets abroad.
The slow progress contrasts with earlier warnings by the Office of the Auditor-General regarding the deteriorating state of several Kenyan missions overseas. Previous audit reports have flagged poor maintenance of embassy buildings, outdated infrastructure and inadequate office facilities in some diplomatic stations, with some missions operating from rented premises despite government owning properties in foreign capitals.
In the 2023-24 financial year, for instance, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed the sorry state of some of the embassies and high commissions. Problems included leaking roofs, damaged ceilings, cracked walls, peeling paint and abandoned renovations.
Some of the dilapidated embassies mentioned were in Nigeria, France, Germany, Tanzania and China.
Nigeria, Tanzania and China are once again captured in the CoB report.
In the case of Nigeria, the Gathungu report found the roof of the Chancery in Abuja, the High Commissioner’s Residence and the staff quarters were leaking and required urgent renovation.
In Tanzania, she raised issues with the stalled renovations of two staff houses in Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam. The renovations stalled in 2020.
The Auditor-General cautioned that failure to maintain and renovate diplomatic properties risked exposing government assets to deterioration and higher future repair costs, while also affecting the working conditions of diplomatic staff.
Diplomatic missions serve as key platforms for advancing Kenya’s foreign policy, facilitating trade and investment and providing consular services to Kenyans living abroad. They are also the face of Kenya abroad, a key foreign policy objective: Project, promote and protect the country’s image and prestige globally.
The CoB report did not, however, explain the reasons behind the lack of expenditure during the first half of the financial year
With many of the projects scheduled for completion by June 2025 already behind schedule, the report raises the prospect that some renovations may spill into the subsequent financial year
