Wizileaks - County Edition Machakos Deep Dive
Corruption in Machakos County thrives on systemic embezzlement, rigged tendering, and flashy yet mismanaged projects, with billions slipping away due to ongoing governance failures and a glaring lack of accountability.
An estimated 6.5 Billion has been lost between 2013 and 2023.
Wavinya Ndeti steps into leadership amidst a deeply entrenched culture of corruption that has long plagued Machakos County. Under her watch, the manipulation of revenue channels and blatant disregard for procurement laws have continued to siphon public funds into private hands, with the county struggling to shake off its reputation for financial mismanagement. Despite being on anti-corruption watch lists and facing damning internal audits, the county's challenges in absorbing its development budget reflect the uphill battle Ndeti faces in steering the county toward transparency and accountability. Alfred Mutua's tenure was no less controversial, though his administration became known for grandiose but ultimately hollow projects. From uncompleted stadia to ambitious infrastructure plans that never materialized, his era epitomized wasteful spending dressed up as progress. These white elephant projects, often touted as symbols of development, instead highlighted the depth of institutional greed that prioritized flashy announcements over tangible results. Both administrations, through their respective pitfalls, underscore the persistent challenges of governance in Machakos County.
Machakos County: The Place to Be – But Is It Really?
Machakos ranks among the top five most bribery-prone counties in Kenya, alongside Busia, Baringo, Nairobi, and Nakuru, according to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Residents in Machakos County often have to pay a bribe when seeking services from county offices, with the average bribe amount being Ksh. 3,196.
Land grabbing in Machakos County is a serious issue driven by corruption and the illegal acquisition of public and private land. Notable cases include the illegal allocation of over 4,000 acres in Mavoko intended for public use.
Machakos County is riddled with stalled public projects. Former Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua has been on the spot for awarding tenders worth nearly KSh800 million in 2018 for two buildings, which were supposed to be completed in 58 weeks. However, by October 2022, one was only 10 percent complete, the other 52 percent, despite over KSh176 million already spent. Other incomplete projects include Sh147.7 million stadiums, the KSh75.1 million Mumbuni Earth Dam, a KSh55.49 million mixed-use development, and a KSh55.4 million community recreation centre.
Machakos county has had only two governors since the start devolution. Even though they may not be directly implicated in the scandals we’ve compiled, each of them oversaw a regime where corruption thrived.
Courtesy | Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0
Wavinya Ndeti
Amount lost - Appx KES 87 million
Wavinya Ndeti inherits a deeply entrenched culture on manipulating revenue channels within the county to psiphon out millions into private hands. This is a culture in which procurement procedure, which is backed up by law, is blatantly disregarded. The EACC says that Mackakos is currently on a watch list for counties that have their dirty fingers in revenue collection, and another report from internal audits shoWS the county absorbs less thaN 10% of its development budget.
Courtesy | x.com/DrAlfredMutua
Alfred Mutua
Amount Lost - Appx 6,442,119,571(6.4 Billion shillings)
Alfred's regime has come to epitomize waste and unsustainable extravagance. Machakos is home to some of the most audacious white elephant projects; they sound cool, alot of money is quickly pumped into them, but nothing to show years later. From multiple stadia, to court buildings for the Judiciary, to mixed-use building complexes, to an airport that was designed but never built, the message of development has been used as a scapegoat to facility institutional greed.
Corruption Database
You can find a comprehensive list of all the scandals we have explored here