A damning audit report has punctured the balloon of Kenya’s global reputation as a climate champion, revealing a hollow domestic machinery plagued by inaction and non-compliance.

While President William Ruto draws applause in Paris and New York for his articulate advocacy on climate finance, the Auditor General has found that his own government is failing to do the bare minimum at home. The report exposes that the National Climate Change Council, the apex body meant to steer the country’s green agenda, has remained largely dormant. It is a classic case of "do as I say, not as I do," threatening to erode Kenya’s credibility on the world stage.

The Disconnect

The Auditor General’s findings are stark. Key ministries have failed to establish mandatory Climate Change Units. The Climate Change Fund, designed to channel resources to the grassroots, is tangled in bureaucracy. "We have a Rolls Royce of a policy framework," remarked an environmental policy analyst, "but we are driving it with a flat tire and no engine."

This domestic lethargy has real-world consequences. Accountability gaps mean that funds meant for adaptation—building dams, planting trees, and supporting farmers—are not being tracked effectively. The disconnect between the President’s international speeches and the civil service’s implementation is widening into a chasm.

• Institutional Failure: The National Climate Change Council has failed to meet regularly or provide strategic direction.
• Financial Opacity: There is no centralized system to track the billions of shillings in climate finance entering the country.
• Legal Breaches: Ministries are in direct violation of the Climate Change Act by failing to mainstream climate actions.

A Call to Order

The audit serves as a wake-up call. Kenya cannot sustain its image as the "voice of Africa" on climate change if its own house is in disarray. International partners, who pour millions into Kenya’s green projects, will be reading this report with concern. If the domestic systems are broken, where is the money going?

President Ruto now faces the task of turning his external zeal inward. He must crack the whip on his administration to operationalize the institutions that the law demands. Leadership is not just about speeches at COP summits; it is about the tedious, unglamorous work of making government institutions function. The world is listening to Kenya, but soon, it will start looking at the results.