Kenya Insights

Tag: Auditor General special report

  • KICC land under mysterious ownership

    KICC land under mysterious ownership

    The ownership of the land on which the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) sits now remains uncertain after an audit report revealed that the prime land is not owned by the state agency that manages it.

    Report by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu shows that the title deed for the the land where KICC building stands is not registered in the name of the iconic building which is under the Tourism ministry.

    But the report did not reveal the owner or the entity that owns the land which is valued at Sh2.29 billion.

    “It has also been noted that the land in which Kenyatta International Convention Centre building stands is not registered in the name of the Corporation although its value has been included in the financial statements,” Gathungu stated.

    The lack of the title deed has now exposed prime plots owned by the government or State corporations and public utilities including schools which always risk invasion by private developers and powerful land grabbers.

    Kenya’s Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu [p/courtesy]
    The findings by Ms Gathungu has reopened a twenty year old dispute over the ownership of the KICC building, which was initially claimed by the former ruling party KANU.

    Kanu lost the ownership of the building in 2003 through what the then Tourism and Information minister Raphael Tuju termed an executive order but the party has continued to list the property as one of its assets in filings to the Registrar of Political Parties.

    Kanu secretary-general Nick Salat had also claimed that the independence party had a title deed to the iconic building.

    But KICC which is one of the continents destinations for conferences was turned into a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism and was  refurbished by the National Treasury.

    The building is now playing host to several government offices, including those of Senators.

    The Auditor General also found the Tourism ministry had not included the parking area as part of the land in its financial statements.

    The land on which Garden Square Restaurant stands is also disputed by KICC and the County Government of Nairobi.

    The valuation of the convention’s assets conducted in 2019 put the value of the KICC building at Sh1,664,800,000 while freehold land at its parking grounds was valued at Sh2.296 billion at end of June 2019.

    The value of furniture at the 28 storey building was Sh21.5 million while office equipment was Sh55.3 million.

    But Ms Gathungu revealed that the valuation amounts as detailed in KICC’s financial statements for the assets differ from the amounts in the valuation report by Sh1.3 billion.

    “The valuer, who had been paid a total of Sh7.6 million, did not give a detailed report on how the valuation was undertaken and why the valuation, particularly the freehold land and buildings seem to be undervalued compared to the current market values,” she said.

     

  • How Prison Cartels Plotted Sh1 billion loot

    How Prison Cartels Plotted Sh1 billion loot

    The State Department for Correctional Services is on the spot for irregularly paying out Sh975.7 million to faceless supplies who made no deliveries to the Kenya Prisons in a National Youth Service (NYS) looting style.

    Auditor General’s report has revealed that the huge amount was paid to fake suppliers in respect of pending bills on behalf of many prison stations across the country.

    “Verification of the payment vouchers at the stations revealed various irregularities as…suppliers who were paid at the headquarters were not known to the stations,” Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said.

    The AG also stated that deeper investigations unearthed how other payments of up-to Sh555,652,356 were made on behalf of various prison stations in a scheme that was executed at the headquarters of the prison’s department.

    Auditor General Nancy Gathungu [p/courtesy]
    The Prisons Department plays host to 129 correctional institutions including the nine maximum-security prisons where the unscrupulous businessmen purport to supply food items.

    The Auditor General also found out that another Sh419,976,543 of the pending bills was overpaid compared to actual deliveries the ‘ghost suppliers’ made at the various prison stations.

    Ms Gathungu said that verification of the payment vouchers at the stations showed  that ‘suppliers’paid were not even contracted to supply anything to those stations.

    Further examinations also revealed that  payment vouchers were attached to unverifiable S13 accountable documents. She added that the stations did not order for or receive ration on the dates indicated in the questionable delivery notes.

    “7 prison stations book not reflecting orders or deliveries of the same and prison stations counter receipt book register not having series of those counter receipt vouchers (S13) used,” said MS Gathungu.

    The AG who is captured in the an audit of the department books of account for the year ended June 2020 said that an audit of the historical pending bills detailed data that co-related with Treasury’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and total expenditure returns at prison stations showed that an over-payment of Sh419,976,543 was made for deliveries that actually amounted to Sh190,347,882.

    The report also found that IFMIS payments amounted to Sh610,324,425 and the matter is currently being investigated by sleuths from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

    “It should, however, be noted that the above matters regarding irregular payments, doubtful procurement and over-payments are currently under investigation by the EACC.

    Zeinab Hussein, the Principal Secretary for Correctional Services Zainab Hussein. [p/courtesy]
    The prisons department is bursted just three months after Parliament directed Correctional Services PS Zeinab Hussein to settle all the verified pending bills to suppliers who  made deliveries worth Sh6.2 billion.

    The Public Accounts Committee which is chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi said that the National Treasury Pending Bills Closing Committee had finalized verifying the pending bills.

    “Within two months upon adoption of this report by the House, the accounting officer must ensure that all the pending bills amounting to Sh6,204,906,533 and duly verified are fully settled.

    “A report on the same to be submitted to the National Assembly at the lapse of the aforestated two months duration,” PAC chair said in a report adopted by the parliament.

     

  • How Rasanga swindled through Covid funds

    How Rasanga swindled through Covid funds

    Siaya County Governor Cornel Rasanga is on the spot for spending more money from the county emergency fund than the amount that was allocated to the county emergency fund to fight Covid-19.

    Rasanga who was questioned by the Senate Standing Committee on Health fumbled to explain where he got the Sh115 that he spent in fighting Covid-19 yet the money allocated to the fund was Sh100 million.

    The Auditor General’s special audit report on how the devolved units spent the Covid-19 funds shows that Siaya’s emergency fund was flagged over over-spending of the county emergency funds. But the governor claimed that his administration only spent Sh100 million and not Sh115 million as indicated in the special report.

    “It was established that as of 31 July 2020, Sh115,884,928 had been committed for Covid-19 related activities which was against the approved budget allocated to the county emergency fund for Covid-19 purposes,” the report reads.

    The Auditor General’s office had confirmed that there was enough evidence to prove that Siaya county made the payments amounting to Sh115 million. Rasanga who was questioned via remote gave conflicting statements with the team from the AG’s office.

    “There may be an error but I can confirm that we did not spend more than Sh100 million. I can confirm that all commitments were charged within the funds. There was no over expenditure,” Rasanga claimed.

    Sen. Fred Outa, Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Health [p/courtesy]
    Kisumu County Senator, Fred Outa, who chairs the committee directed the controversial governor to provide proof of his expenditure after he gave him one week to provide evidence that he did not overspend.

    Siaya spent Sh270 million in Covid-19 related emergencies where  Sh100 million was from the county emergency fund with the county receiving Sh60 million on July 3 and another Sh40 million a week later.

    The county also received Sh97 million as government conditional grant, Sh6 million from Danida , national government health workers allowance of Sh36 million and Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KSDP) Sh30 million.

    The AG’s special report comes after a section of Rasanga’s senior staff were recently exposed over rampant looting in the county. The assembly Speaker George Okode was found to be leading a cartel that is also swindling county funds through suspect deals.