Leadership Failure and the Disturbing Governance Questions Facing AFC
Few Kenyans would dispute that agriculture remains the backbone of the country’s economy. The sector contributes nearly a third of national GDP and supports millions of livelihoods across rural Kenya.
For decades, the mandate of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) has been straightforward and noble: provide affordable credit to farmers, stimulate rural productivity, and strengthen national food security.
But troubling questions are emerging about whether the institution is still serving this mission - or whether it has become yet another cautionary tale of how strategic public institutions drift into dysfunction under weak leadership, questionable governance, and alleged patronage networks.
At the center of these concerns is the Managing Director, one Mr George Miriti Kubai.
Recent audit findings by the Office of the Auditor-General and internal complaints paint a worrying picture of an institution drifting away from professionalism, efficiency, and accountability.
What should be one of Kenya’s most important agricultural financing institutions is increasingly associated with procurement controversies, staff unrest, and governance disputes.
A Strategic Institution Showing Signs of Decline
AFC is not just an ordinary government agency.
It is one of the few specialized public finance institutions designed specifically to provide credit to farmers who often cannot access loans from commercial banks.
When AFC functions properly, farmers invest more in production, rural incomes grow and food supply chains stabilize.
When AFC fails, the consequences ripple across the entire economy.
Yet the external audit for the financial year ended June 2025 raised concerns regarding procurement practices, internal compliance controls, and operational oversight.
Instead of focusing on expanding farmer lending and strengthening its agricultural development mandate, AFC appears increasingly distracted by internal controversies and management disputes.
Procurement Irregularities Raise Serious Questions
Among the most concerning issues flagged in the audit were irregularities in procurement processes, particularly relating to the acquisition of ICT infrastructure, including Sophos firewall systems and associated licenses.
The procurement process reportedly raised compliance questions under Kenya’s Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, specifically concerning adherence to procurement procedures and supplier evaluation rules.
Procurement laws exist to ensure transparency, fair competition, and value for money in the use of public funds.
When those procedures are bypassed or inadequately followed, the consequences are rarely trivial.
International anti-corruption studies show that procurement irregularities typically result in price inflation of between 20 and 40 percent above market value.
Applying this benchmark to the questioned ICT procurement suggests that if the acquisition fell within a typical enterprise security procurement range of KSh 25 million to KSh 40 million, potential overpricing exposure could range between:
KSh 5 million and KSh 16 million.
In public institutions, procurement irregularities are rarely isolated technical errors. They often signal deeper governance problems.
And governance problems usually begin at the top.
A Surge in Staff Litigation
Beyond procurement concerns, AFC is experiencing an unprecedented wave of employment disputes.
Information referenced in a petition submitted to Parliament seeking Mr George Kubai’s removal from office indicates that the Corporation is currently facing numerous legal challenges from former staff who claim they were dismissed unfairly and in violation of due process.
Several of these cases have been filed before the Employment and Labour Relations Court and even others at Constitution & Human Rights Court, with litigants alleging widespread violations of their basic rights.
Importantly, while many of these cases are still ongoing, others have already been concluded—and AFC has already been compelled to pay out millions of shillings in compensation to former employees.
Just a few weeks ago, for instance, Mr. Eurry Mabonga, a former employee who successfully challenged his dismissal, was awarded over KSh 3.4 million by the court after it found that his termination had been carried out unfairly and unlawfully.
Cases of this nature expose AFC not only to reputational damage but also to substantial financial liabilities borne ultimately by Kenyan taxpayers.
With the cases being concluded one by one, AFC is thus sure to face further compensation exposure in the region of KSh 30 million to KSh 35 million, excluding future legal costs and additional settlements.
Beyond the financial implications, the rising wave of litigation reflects deeper internal instability. Institutions consumed by internal disputes rarely function effectively.
Allegations of Tribal Patronage and Internal Favoritism
Equally troubling are persistent complaints from staff and stakeholders regarding alleged favoritism in recruitment, promotion and internal deployment.
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 requires public institutions to uphold merit-based recruitment and reflect the diversity of the Kenyan nation.
Article 232 in particular emphasizes fairness, transparency, and equal opportunity in public service.
When employees begin to perceive that ethnic patronage or political loyalty outweigh competence, the consequences are predictable: morale collapses, productivity declines, and professionalism erodes.
While such allegations require formal investigation to establish their accuracy, their persistence signals a dangerous erosion of internal confidence in leadership.
Institutional Drift and Lost Agricultural Impact
Beyond governance disputes lies an even more troubling issue: institutional drift.
AFC exists primarily to expand agricultural financing across Kenya. Yet thousands of smallholder farmers continue to struggle to access affordable credit.
Observers within the agricultural sector increasingly question whether the institution’s leadership has articulated a coherent long-term strategy to expand lending, modernize agricultural credit systems, and strengthen rural financial inclusion.
Even modest institutional inefficiencies can have enormous economic consequences.
If internal dysfunction were to reduce AFC’s annual lending capacity by just KSh 500 million, the resulting suppression of agricultural investment could translate into nearly KSh 900 million in lost economic output, given the typical productivity multiplier associated with agricultural financing.
Leadership Matters
Public institutions reflect the tone set at the top.
When leadership is disciplined, transparent, and mission-driven, organizations thrive.
When leadership becomes associated with internal turmoil, procurement controversies, and governance questions, institutional decline is almost inevitable.
As Managing Director, George Kubai bears ultimate responsibility for the direction, integrity, and governance of the corporation.
This is not about personalities.
It is about accountability.
Parliament and Oversight Agencies Must Act
Given the seriousness of the issues raised, the concerns surrounding AFC deserve urgent scrutiny by oversight bodies including the Parliament of Kenya and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Kenyan taxpayers deserve clear answers to several key questions:
- Are procurement laws fully complied with at AFC ?
- Are public funds being used prudently and transparently at AFC ?
- Are employment and recruitment practices consistent with constitutional standards?
- Has the current AFC leadership effectively fulfilled its mandate to strengthen agricultural financing?
These questions cannot be answered through silence or internal defensiveness.
They require independent scrutiny.
The Stakes for Kenya’s Farmers
The emerging governance concerns at AFC are not merely administrative disputes.
Even conservative financial estimates suggest that procurement irregularities, legal liabilities, and institutional inefficiencies could expose taxpayers and the agricultural economy to economic losses approaching KSh 1 billion.
For a country where millions depend on agriculture for survival such institutional dysfunction cannot be ignored.
If AFC succeeds, farmers succeed.
If AFC fails, rural economies suffer.
That is why the issues now emerging must be investigated thoroughly, transparently, and without fear or favour.
Public institutions exist to serve citizens - not ethnic interests.
And when credible concerns arise about corruption, favoritism, inefficiency, or mismanagement, accountability is not optional.
Kenyans MUST STAND UP & save AFC.
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