Six county women MPs have been drawn into the centre of a Sh18.9 million energy-saving jikos distribution storm after Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu questioned how they were selected for the task in her latest report to Parliament.
Audit of the Petroleum Development Levy Fund accounts for the 2023/24 financial year reveals that 5,500 energy-saving jikos were bought by the PDLF for distribution to low-income households as a measure to mitigate forest destruction.
However, how the Women County MPs for Nyeri, Laikipia, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Bomet, and Kitui counties were identified to distribute 2,000 jikos in their respective areas remains unanswered, according to the audit.
“The management did not justify reasons for using selected MPs for the distribution of the jikos and the criteria to be used by the MPs to identify beneficiaries in their respective areas of representation,” the audit reads.
It adds, “In the circumstances, value for money incurred in the purchase of energy-saving jikos amounting to Sh18,899,000 for distribution to households could not be confirmed.”
The audit notes that records and physical verification done by the auditors revealed that of the 3,500 jikos purchased during the year, 660 were distributed to beneficiaries in Nyeri, Kirinyaga East, Kirinyaga West, Nyahururu Sub-County, and Mwea Sub-County.
However, the remaining 2,840 jikos acquired at Sh9.8 million were yet to be accounted for.
The clean cooking jiko is an important priority component of the government’s development agenda that was conceptualised under retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
Its key policy objective is to fulfil the national obligations to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of achieving universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2028. This is aligned with other existing global and local commitments contained in the Sustainable Energy for All and Nationally Determined Contributions that aim to accelerate actions in clean cooking to achieve the target.
The idea of energy-saving jiko came to the fore based on the fact that cooking in Kenya is characterised by heavy reliance on solid biomass.
This includes the use of firewood and charcoal by households, mainly concentrated in rural areas and used by an estimated 68 per cent of the households.
The audit says, despite the PDLF providing for the purchase of the jikos, “no evidence was provided to indicate that prerequisite studies were conducted on indoor air quality to measure carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other gases in households.”
“Kenya needs to rapidly expand accessible clean cooking solutions,” a Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy by the Ministry of Energy to promote the uptake of improved cook stoves in the country, tabled in the National Assembly, reads.
This is predicated on the fact that only 30 percent of rural households and 54 percent of urban households currently use clean cooking technologies and fuels.
“No surveys were conducted to identify households with children aged below five years who were being targeted,” the audit reveals, noting, “signed lists of beneficiaries who received the jikos were not provided for audit verification.”
Further, the audit reveals that there was no record provided by PDLF to indicate that the jikos were initially received at the fund before they were eventually distributed to the beneficiaries.
Also flagged by the Auditor-General is that records on the issuance of the jikos lacked details of beneficiaries, “such as names and contact information,” and that the jikos were not branded for identification.
The Ministry of Energy reveals that an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide use biomass fuels, such as firewood and charcoal, as the primary source of cooking.
The fuels release emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and black carbon, some of the biggest contributors to global climate change.
The BCC strategy aims to increase awareness of the benefits of clean cooking and encourage the uptake of improved cooking solutions.
