Audit projects in Uhuru’s Sh4.2 trillion public projects, MPs demand
A section of the Nairobi Expressway while it was still under construction in April. MPs have called for an audit of public projects undertaken in the last five years.
MPs have called for investigations into Sh4.2 trillion worth of public projects undertaken during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term.
The call came during a special sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday as the lawmakers discussed the Public Investments Management Regulations, 2022.
The regulations, if passed, will guide identification, feasibility studies, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of projects the government undertakes with private investors.
Led by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, MPs said the probe should be done as quickly as possible to confirm whether such steps were followed for the various projects the government implemented.
“The National Assembly Finance and Transport committees should work jointly and look into this matter once the regulations are in place to get to the bottom of it. We want accountability. All these projects should be audited,” Mr Ichung’wah said.
Already, the Senate’s Transport committee is probing the use of Sh9 billion set aside for the rehabilitation of Mombasa Road following the construction of the Expressway.
This is after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei questioned the rationale of using extra funds to rehabilitate a road damaged by an already paid contractor. Senators have also faulted the extra cost, saying the contractor should shoulder any the costs.
In the National Assembly yesterday, MPs poked holes into the way in which projects were conceptualised and implemented; without feasibility studies and budget plans, thereby costing taxpayers billions of shillings.
In particular, President Kenyatta’s regime came under heavy criticism over the Expressway’s public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, with claims that it was a cash cow for a few individuals in government as the contractor and investor got ridiculous tax exemptions.
Describing the regulations as timely, Mr Ichung’wah said: “Members will be shocked at the kind of tax exemptions extended to contractors of the Nairobi Expressway and investors at the expense of Kenyans. The manner in which the Nairobi Expressway project was contracted leaves a lot of questions in our minds.”
He went on: “More surprising is the fact that we cannot account for what the contractor is collecting on a daily basis. Motorists cannot pay through M-Pesa, it is a cash transaction. Someone doesn’t want accountability.”
While crediting the project for enhancing mobility between Mlolongo and Westlands, he questioned the use of public funds despite the project being PPP and the state affirming that no public funds will be used.
Delegated Legislation Committee chairperson Samuel Chepkong’a, while moving a motion for the adoption of the regulations, said: “Over the past five financial years, the government cumulatively allocated Sh4.2 trillion to finance public investments projects in the country. ”
According to the committee, the adoption of the regulations will enhance transparency and accountability and ensure the establishment and maintenance of public investment information to help in decision-making.
“The regulations will seek to clarify the roles of institutions in public investment where money used is drawn from the Consolidated Fund, including those expended by MPs like NG-CDF (National Government Constituency Development Fund) and Affirmative Action Fund,” said Mr Chepkong’a.
Bureti MP Kibet Komingoi, while seconding the motion, said the regulations are timely.
“It will enhance government project cycle and keep an inventory ... Parliament will be appraised on the funding structures and enable the government to work in an orderly manner while Kenyans get value for money,” he said.
The lawmakers unanimously backed the committee’s recommendations on ther regulations, effectively putting brakes on confidential deals.
Kangema MP Peter Kihungi noted that the absence of the regulations has created room for government officials to advance personal interests.
MPs Beatrice Elachi (Dagoretti North) and her Narok North counterpart Agnes Pareiyo also lauded the regulations.
“Where we have come from and the debt situation we are in, is as a result of projects initiated by individual in government opening own companies and doing own projects. With these regulations, Kenyans will now interrogate the projects and the repayment plan,” said Ms Elachi.
