NCPB risks losing Sh5.7 billion land to grabbers - Auditor-General
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has raised the alarm over the security of Sh5.7 billion government land held by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in various parts of the country after she established that it has been illegally annexed by individuals and entities for private commercial gains.
Ms Gathungu has also painted a grim picture of the financial situation of NCPB, a state corporation, with its liabilities currently at Sh19.25 billion, including the controversial Sh651.79 million owed to Export Trading Company for the supply of fertiliser.
In her latest audit report on the accounts of NCPB before Parliament, Ms Gathungu warns that the government risks losing the multibillion-shilling land due to the numerous cases of encroachment as captured in her report.
The report shows that some of the land has been questionably hived off by private entities, fenced and leased off contrary to the purpose it was intended for.
This emerged as audit inspection visits by the auditors at sampled NCPB depots across the country revealed encroachment by private parties on the government property.
“In view of these issues, the ownership by the board of the properties could not be confirmed,” the report on the accounts of NCPB for the financial year 2019/20 reads.
Also read: Details of Sh11.3bn scandal at cereals board
The audit will not be considered by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly when it sits down for business following its constitution by the House last week.
For instance, in Bungoma, an encroacher had fenced off plot number 485 where the NCPB silos in Bungoma are located, and leased it to a garage operator.
In Kisii County, the audit shows there are structures irregularly built by third parties on Block 3/48 of the NCPB land measuring 0.0167 hectares and Block 3/150, measuring 0.0302 hectares.
“No records were provided to indicate the effort made by NCPB to recover these parcels of lands,” the report reads.
In Nakuru County, the NCPB did not have ownership documents for land LR/No 3490/16 measuring 0.0878 hectares “and it was not possible to physically identify the said land for audit verification”.
In Kericho County, the audit notes that there are permanent residential houses built and occupied by third parties who claim to own the properties and allotment letters for three of the NCPB properties.
Permanent structures
They include block 5/65 or LR No 631/488, Block 5/66 or LR No 631/505 and Block 5/67 or LR No 631/504 measuring 0.03 hectares, 0.0389 hectares and 0.0335 hectares respectively.
The circumstances under which the land ceased to belong to the NCPB were not explained to the auditors, with the responsibility now in the hands of PAC during its committee of accounts hearings.
In addition, Block 5/138, Block 2/49 and Block 5/165 measuring 0.0654 hectares, 0.7284 hectares, and 0.0654 hectares respectively had their beacons move inwards from one side and lost tens of metres of the government land.
In Kakamega County, the tenant leasing the NCPB depot land had built permanent structures and also repainted the NCPB office. This notwithstanding that no records were presented to the auditors indicating that the developments on the government land- block 1/640 were approved by the NCPB board of directors.
The audit report further revealed that NCPB has not explained how the Sh651.79 million owed to Export Trading Company for the supply of fertiliser arose despite the fertiliser being procured through a letter of credit from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), which was subsequently converted into a loan on maturity.
Although the amount owed to the company decreased by Sh643.48 million in the 2019/20 financial year, records on payments made to the company were not provided to the auditors for review.
“As a result, the occurrence of the payment could not be confirmed,” the report states.
