FAQ’s

The Office is charged with the primary oversight role of ensuring accountability within the three arms of government (the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive) as well as the Constitutional Commissions and Independent Office.

The Auditor-General is mandated to audit and report in respect to each financial year on the accounts of: the National and County Governments; all Funds and Authorities of the National and County Governments; all Courts; every Commission and Independent Office established by the Constitution; the National Assembly, the Senate and the County Assemblies; Political Parties funded from public funds; the Public Debt and the accounts of any entity that legislation requires, and any entity that is funded from public funds.

In addition, Article 229(6) of the Constitution requires the Auditor-General to confirm whether or not public money has been applied lawfully and in an effective way.

• Certification of accounts to assure fiscal responsibility

Certification audit responds to the core mandate of certifying accounts at national and county levels and expressing an opinion as to whether or not they are prepared in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework and/or statutory requirements.

The end product of this exercise is an annual audit report on each entity that is presented to Parliament and the relevant County Assembly.

• Continuous audit presence to assure on managerial accountability

Continuous audit ensures that the office is proactive, preventive and deterrent to fraud & corruption, wastage and abuse of public resources. This requires the auditor to constantly be on the ground to continuously assess the risks brought about by the evolving environment so as to: perform “real time” transactions testing and data analysis that enables timely recommendations; respond instantly to issues of national, county governments and any public concerns that require immediate audit or investigation; optimize use of audit resources while increasing audit activity and improve financial systems and business processes for effective risk management, control and governance.

• Performance audit to assure on service delivery to Kenyans

This is audit work responding directly to the bill of rights and social rights of Kenyans that will be met through development and implementation of programmes such as health, clean and safe water, education, housing and social security.

We respond to the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the resources are utilized to deliver services to the public. This Office assesses whether the programmes implemented lead to results, outputs and outcomes that positively transform the lives of citizens.


The products of this audit are performance audit reports which are issued at the end of the audit exercise.

Our reports are submitted to Parliament and the relevant County Assemblies, who are representatives of the Kenyan people.

The reports are discussed at the relevant Committees of Parliament and County Assemblies. Public Accounts Committees (PAC) of the National Assembly discusses accounts of the National Government while Public Investments Committee (PIC) of the National Assembly discusses accounts of State Corporations.

At the Senate, the accounts of County Governments and County Corporations are discussed by the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC). This role is also played at the County level by relevant Public Accounts and Investments Committees of the County Assemblies.

After hearings by the Parliamentary and County Assemblies Committees, with the assistance of the Office of the Auditor-General, recommendations are given which should be implemented by the entities concerned. Thereafter, the Auditor-General follows up to confirm whether the recommendations have been implemented.

The Auditor-General is audited by an independent auditor appointed by the National Assembly as outlined in Article 226(4) of the Constitution of Kenya.

In our audit reports, the Auditor-General expresses satisfaction or non-satisfaction of the financial statements through audit opinions. These opinions are unqualified, qualified, adverse or disclaimer. The specific explanations on the opinions are as outlined below:

• An unqualified opinion is a clean opinion, meaning that the financial transactions by and large were recorded properly and are in agreement with the accounting records.
• A qualified opinion means that although by and large the financial transactions are recorded and are deemed to be in agreement with the accounting records, there may be cases where the Auditor-General is unsatisfied with the veracity of certain expenditures, which may not be significant. Hence, except for such unsupported expenditure, the accounts reflect a true and fair situation.
• An adverse opinion means that although the financial transactions are recorded, the Auditor-General may be unsatisfied with significant amounts of expenditure.
• A disclaimer of opinion is serious and means that there was no basis upon which the Auditor-General can satisfactorily undertake an audit because the accounting records are unreliable; there are no verifiable supporting documentation and explanations for transactions. Consequently, the Auditor-General can neither give a qualified nor an adverse opinion; and gives a disclaimer.

The reports are available on our website, the Government Printer, public libraries, institutions of higher learning and every audited entity. However, reports can only be availed to the public after they have been submitted in Parliament or the relevant County Assemblies.