MPs have called on Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu to conduct a special audit of ongoing construction at Mitihani House, which has been in progress for 37 years.
The lawmakers also want all past Kenya Examination Council (Knec) chief executives held accountable for the billions that have been allocated to the project during their tenures.
While debating a report by the Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education on the financial statements of 23 State corporations, the lawmakers threatened to withhold further allocations to the project until the money is accounted for and a clear roadmap to its completion provided.
Although the staff at Knec moved into the building last year, it’s still unfinished. Two weeks ago, the examinations body said it needs Sh500 million to complete it. Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi said Mitihani house has been allocated billions with little work to show for it.
Kathiani MP Robert Mbui said government projects that take inordinately long to complete are a burden to taxpayers since contractors charge for penalties in the settlement of their dues.
The lawmakers said government projects are often delayed deliberately in order to facilitate corruption through paying consultants and contractors’ money that cannot be accounted for.
They accused the National Treasury and the State Department for Public Works of deliberately delaying government projects in order to steal public funds through unscrupulous deals with consultants and contractors.
“For 37 years, there are been people in the name of contractors and consultants who have made billions out of this project,” Mr Mbui said.
National Assembly Education Committee Chairman Julius Melly attributed the failure to complete Mitihani House to ineptitude, corruption and misuse of public resources.
“We want all past CEOs at Knec to account for every coin they were given towards this project. As the chairman of education, we allocate resources and want to know how those resources have been used,” Mr Melly said.
Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi termed the continued allocation of money to Mitihani House a wastage of public resources.
The New Mitihani House in Nairobi’s South C estate in this picture taken on April 7, 2021. The building is the proposed headquarters of the Kenya National Examinations council and has been under construction since 1986.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“How can a building be under construction for over 30 years? This is a pointer to wastage of public resources. We need an audit for such institutions so that we know the amount of money that has so far been sunk in the project,” Mr Wanyonyi.
Kitui Central MP Makali lamented that a country that is struggling to meet its basic needs can still afford to waste billions in one project.
“We need to be firm on accounting officers especially at this time that, as a country, we are struggling financially. We must ensure that there is no wastage of taxpayers’ money,” Dr Mulu said.
The new Knec headquarters building is located in South C estate, off Mombasa Road. The building has cost taxpayers more than Sh3 billion up from the initial budget of Sh248 million.
The project plan comprised the construction of three interconnected blocks of office space referred to as Towers A, B and C with a common basement, ground floor and six upper floors on each tower.
According to a report from the National Assembly Budget Committee, the project has been allocated Sh900 million in the last two financial years.
Knec had requested another Sh2 billion up to the financial year 2024/2025 for the completion of its construction.
Since the beginning of the project, eight different contractors have worked on it with each coming with different quotations to be paid for by taxpayers.
The building was allocated Sh500 million in the 2021/2022 financial year for its completion with MPs warning that it will not be business as usual if it is not finished this year.
The Sh500 million is in addition to Sh395 million that was allocated to the building in the supplementary budget in the2019/2020 financial year.
Knec has always blamed inadequate allocations from the National Treasury for the delay in completing the project.
