A staggering data entry error has exposed vulnerabilities in Kenya’s newly launched electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system. The Executive Office of President William Ruto mistakenly uploaded a procurement plan valued at Sh784.3 trillion, a figure that dwarfs the country’s entire economy and highlights teething problems with the digital platform.
The astronomical sum is more than 50 times the size of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and vastly exceeds the office’s actual approved budget of Sh5.6 billion for the period. The mistake was made on the e-GP portal, a system launched on July 1, 2025, intended to increase transparency and combat corruption in public spending.
This incident has brought scrutiny to the system’s data validation capabilities, which apparently failed to flag the impossibly large figure. The rollout of the e-GP has faced other challenges, including budget upload errors from county governments and a temporary court injunction that halted its implementation shortly after launch.
Financial and governance experts point to the error as symptomatic of broader procurement and revenue collection inefficiencies within the government. The revelation comes at a time when Kenya is grappling with significant revenue shortfalls, making the massive procedural error particularly glaring.
The system, designed as a cornerstone of the administration’s anti-corruption efforts, has ironically unveiled critical flaws in its own early stages of operation, raising questions about the preparedness and technical robustness of the digital transition.
