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A Wamuzi News undercover investigation has unearthed a multi-billion-shilling infrastructure scandal involving several county governments accused of allocating funds for road projects that do not exist.
Documents, financial statements, and GPS-verified data obtained exclusively by Wamuzi News reveal that over Sh12.4 billion has been siphoned off through what investigators are now calling “ghost roads” — phantom construction projects approved, funded, and even “completed” on paper, but never built in reality.
The Trail of Missing Roads.
The investigation, which took six months and spanned six counties, uncovered at least 48 road projects listed as “complete” in county reports but which, upon physical inspection, are nothing more than bare land or abandoned gravel paths.In Kakamega County, a road reported as tarmacked under the “Rural Access Expansion Program” led only to a sugarcane field.
Locals interviewed said no construction ever took place. “They came, took pictures, and left,” said a resident who requested anonymity. “Later, we saw the road on the county website as ‘successfully completed.’”Similar cases were discovered in Bungoma, Kisii, Vihiga, and Turkana counties. Some of the projects were “launched” with public ceremonies and ribbon-cutting events — but construction machinery never returned after the cameras left.
Paperwork That Doesn’t Add Up.
Leaked audit reports and confidential memos show that contractors linked to powerful political figures were paid in full despite doing little or no work. In several cases, the same contractor appeared under different company names but shared identical directors and bank details.
An internal procurement officer, who agreed to speak to Wamuzi News under strict anonymity, confessed that some road tenders were awarded even before official advertisements were published.> “These are political projects — they exist only in budgets, not on the ground,” the source revealed.
“Payments were cleared as soon as photoshopped completion pictures were submitted.”
Banking Trails and Shell Companies.
Financial records traced by our team show suspicious payments funneled through offshore accounts in Dubai and Mauritius, matching previously flagged money laundering routes tied to procurement fraud.
A senior financial analyst at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) confirmed that several of the listed contractors are already under quiet investigation. “We’ve identified patterns of inflated billing, duplicate tenders, and non-existent delivery reports,” the source said. “But political interference has delayed arrests.”
Government Reaction and Mounting Pressure.
The Council of Governors has denied any coordinated scheme, saying counties operate independently and that “audit processes are ongoing.”However, a confidential letter from a senior county official to the Treasury, seen by Wamuzi News, admits that “a review of completed road projects reveals inconsistencies in documentation and physical progress.”
Opposition leaders are now calling for a national task force to probe the scandal, which they say is “robbing citizens of development and infrastructure hope.”Digital activists have begun tagging roads on Google Maps with hashtags like #GhostRoadsKe and #WhereIsOurMoney, sparking a viral online protest demanding accountability.
The Human Cost.
Beyond the figures and fake contracts, rural communities remain trapped in poverty due to impassable terrain and nonexistent roads. “They said our road was done last year, but ambulances still can’t reach here when someone is sick,” said a mother from Vihiga County. “We feel invisible.”
The Next Phase.
Wamuzi News has submitted its findings to the Office of the Auditor General and the EACC for further action. Insiders say more counties may soon be named as the probe widens into what could become the largest infrastructure fraud scandal in Kenya’s devolution history.
This story is developing.
Further details — including the names of companies and government officials allegedly involved — will be revealed in Part Two: The Contractors Behind the Ghost Roads, coming soon exclusively on Wamuzi News.
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