For more than a decade, billions of shillings meant to compensate Kenyans for land used by electricity transmission lines have been paid out, but a new investigation shows that the process may have been deeply flawed.
The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee is now looking into a staggering Sh17.02 billion in wayleave compensation payments made between the 2010/11 and 2022/23 financial years.
This is not a simple audit of a single project; it is a sweeping investigation that threatens to expose a long history of questionable decisions inside Kenya’s energy sector.
The committee has widened its inquiry beyond current officials, summoning former Principal Secretaries, former accounting officers, and past Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) chief executives.
They must now explain how these billions were spent and why it took so long for serious questions to be raised.
The investigation covers a period that saw many leadership changes, meaning a number of high-profile individuals could be drawn into the probe.
On the government side, the committee is looking at former Energy Principal Secretaries who served during the audit period. Current Principal Secretary Eng. Alex Wachira, who has already appeared before the committee, could be questioned further about his time in office.
On the KETRACO side, the inquiry is expected to examine decisions made under successive managing directors and CEOs.
This includes Fernandes Barasa, who served as Managing Director before resigning in 2022 to successfully run for the Kakamega governorship.
It also includes Dr. Eng. John Muoki Mativo, who took over in April 2023 and served until his abrupt dismissal in September 2025, just over two years into his three-year term.
The government did not provide a detailed public explanation for his removal. Currently, Eng. Kipkemoi Kibias serves as the Acting Managing Director and CEO, having been appointed after Dr. Mativo’s dismissal, and his leadership will also be scrutinized.
The committee has even indicated that a current governor will be asked to appear because of a previous role in the energy sector, showing that no one is above the investigation.
The projects under scrutiny are some of the largest and most important in Kenya’s history.
They include the Ethiopia-Kenya transmission line, the Kenya-Tanzania transmission line, the Kenya-Uganda transmission line, and several domestic projects like the Turkwel-Ortum-Kitale line and the Nairobi Ring Road transmission line.
These massive investments, largely financed by development partners, were meant to strengthen the national grid and facilitate regional power trade.
However, the special audit report that triggered this investigation found that Sh4.03 billion in compensation remains unpaid, and questions linger over the payments that were already made.
The core of the investigation is to determine if genuine landowners actually received the money or if some beneficiaries were paid irregularly.
Parliament also wants to know if compensation amounts were inflated, if proper verification procedures were followed, and whether taxpayers received value for the money spent.
This is bigger than just wayleave payments. Wayleave compensation is a simple concept: it exists to fairly compensate landowners whose property is affected by transmission lines. But the current situation highlights a recurring and damaging weakness in Kenya’s public infrastructure projects.
The pattern is all too familiar: billions of shillings are borrowed or allocated for flagship projects, construction begins with great fanfare, and years later, Parliament commissions a forensic audit after concerns emerge.
By the time the investigation happens, key officials have retired, been transferred, or moved into politics. Important records may be incomplete, institutional memory is lost, and it becomes incredibly difficult to assign responsibility.
The same pattern has been seen in roads, dams, and health projects, and now it is repeating itself in the energy sector.
The temptation for some will be to reduce this investigation to one ministry or one administration. However, the audit period stretches from 2010/11 to 2022/23, covering the final years of President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, the entire presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta, and the beginning of President William Ruto’s administration.
KETRACO has had different boards, chief executives, and accounting officers over that period.
This long timeline means that if irregular payments occurred, accountability must follow the evidence, not political convenience or changes in office.
The Public Accounts Committee says its objective is to determine if the compensation claims were genuine and if Kenyans received value for money.
For taxpayers, however, the most important question is whether this inquiry will finally result in individual accountability.
The concern is that this could become just another parliamentary report that documents failures long after the money has left the public purse, with no one held responsible for the loss of billions of shillings.
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