State agencies have accumulated court awards worth Sh197.4 billion, exposing another major financial obligation for the government as it draws up spending plans for the 2027-28 financial year.
The liabilities, spread across ministries, departments and agencies, are contained in National Treasury’s sector budget proposals and point to the growing cost of legal disputes involving the State.
A large part of the burden is concentrated in three sectors, which together account for about Sh159.1 billion, or nearly four-fifths of the total amount reported across nine sectors.
The Agriculture, Rural and Urban Development sector carries the highest liability at Sh84.9 billion. It is followed by Energy, Infrastructure and ICT with Sh47.1 billion, while the Health sector has court awards totalling Sh27.1 billion.
Treasury cautions that the figures do not mean the government will be required to clear the entire Sh197.4 billion during the 2027-28 financial year.
The amounts represent awards recorded by the respective ministries and agencies, with some matters still going through verification, appeals, negotiations or payment arrangements.
So far, state agencies have paid only about Sh9 billion towards the awards, leaving a large balance that could continue to weigh on public finances.
The Agriculture, Rural and Urban Development sector accounts for almost half of the total liability, with court awards valued at Sh84.94 billion.
The State Department for Agriculture is responsible for about Sh69.8 billion of the sector’s exposure.
Some of its largest obligations stem from disputes over land and arbitration matters. One Mombasa land case has resulted in an award of about Sh32 billion, while a separate arbitration dispute has produced a liability of about Sh19 billion.
Against the agriculture-related awards, payments amounting to only about Sh1.4 billion had been made.
The Lands sub-sector is facing additional court awards worth Sh13.89 billion. This includes a Mombasa land dispute involving an award of about Sh5.8 billion.
The National Land Commission has also recorded awards amounting to about Sh936.6 million, with none of that amount having been paid.
In the livestock sub-sector, the State is dealing with a negotiated settlement of Sh4 billion in the Halal Meat Products case.
The settlement is lower than the initial Sh5.24 billion claim.
The Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sector has the second-highest exposure, with court awards totalling about Sh47.09 billion.
Road-related disputes make up a sizeable portion of the liability, with the roads sub-sector carrying awards of approximately Sh21.4 billion.
Several of the cases involve contractors and road agencies, but payments against the roads-related awards remained low at about Sh1.29 billion.
The transport sub-sector has court awards valued at approximately Sh9.46 billion, against which only Sh198.3 million had been paid.
Energy-related cases account for another Sh13.14 billion in awards.
Among the liabilities is an arbitration award of about $18.5 million against the Geothermal Development Company.
Kenya Power has also been hit by a Sh1.36 billion award in its dispute with AEE Power, an energy infrastructure developer.
The figures show that court-related liabilities have become a sizeable financial obligation for state institutions, particularly in sectors where disputes over land, infrastructure projects, contracts and other government dealings have resulted in substantial awards.
While the Treasury figures do not indicate that all the awards will be paid in the next financial year, the outstanding liabilities add to the competing demands that ministries and agencies must manage when allocating limited public resources.