Auditor General flags NEMA for relying on a single officer to evaluate thousands of projects

The environmental watchdog tasked with regulating pollution and project compliance in Kenya is facing sharp criticism, after it emerged that a single officer is responsible for evaluating thousands of project proposals across the country every year.

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has come under scrutiny in a new audit for depending on one quantity surveyor to verify environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports used to determine compliance and fees.

According to Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu’s report for the financial year ending June 2024, Nema relies almost entirely on quantity estimates submitted by companies themselves, with only one in-house officer tasked with checking thousands of reports annually.

This model, the audit warns, not only risks a conflict of interest but also exposes the agency to massive revenue losses and possible fraud.

“However, as per the approved staff establishment, only one quantity surveyor was in place against annual applications of 7,021 for EIA licenses across the 47 counties. This exposes the authority to risks of revenue loss due to elements of lack of segregation of duty, exhaustion, collusion and fraud during valuation of projects,” Gathungu said.

The audit paints a worrying picture of an overstretched review process, where one officer handles nearly 20 project assessments each working day.

These documents often span hundreds of pages and are meant to guide decisions on whether projects meet environmental standards.

Yet despite the weight of this responsibility, the agency managed to collect Sh576.42 million from the EIA review fees, which accounted for more than 70 per cent of its income in the year under review.

The Auditor-General noted that this process lacks independence, as Nema primarily depends on developers’ experts to estimate costs.

The authority then uses its single quantity surveyor to verify those estimates instead of conducting fresh, independent valuations, raising the potential for companies to understate costs and reduce their fees.

In response, Nema Director-General Mamo Boru said the agency is addressing the staffing issue by creating regional offices and bringing on more professionals.

“The authority is addressing the staffing level of QSs by undertaking continuous workload analysis for the cost verification exercise, and we are currently setting up regional QSs (quantity surveyors) offices to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in this process,” he said.

Boru added that Nema has been working with quantity surveyors from other government agencies to backstop the process and guard against companies manipulating their figures to cut costs.

He said the role of Nema’s quantity surveyor is mainly to verify the cost figures submitted by developers and compare them against benchmarks for different sectors.

While the authority maintains that it expects companies to act ethically and professionally in their self-assessments, the Auditor-General’s office has criticised this arrangement, calling for a stronger internal structure to prevent abuse and ensure reliable revenue collection.