A parliamentary committee has cast doubt on millions spent by the office of the Deputy President during the tenure of Rigathi Gachagua to renovate the Harambee Annex offices, Karen residence and Mombasa office.
The National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security now wants a detailed scope of work of all the works done by the office up to the end of the 2023/2024 financial year.
So doubtful is the committee on the millions of taxpayers spent during Mr Gachagua’s tenure that it is mulling attending the three places to confirm whether the scope of work done is commensurate with money spent.
Documents tabled before the committee on Tuesday indicate that as of June 30, 2024, the office of the Deputy President had spent Sh98.40 million for the refurbishment of the Harambee Annex office at the city centre. Sh249 million was spent on the refurbishment of his Karen residence and a further Sh49 million was used for the refurbishment of his Mombasa office.
The committee also wants answers on how the Sh771.7 million allocated to the Office of the Spouse of the Deputy President Dorcas Rigathi was spent during the year under review.
Part of the listed achievements listed by the Office of the Deputy President under the alcohol, illicit brew, drugs and substance abuse eradication initiative include that the office through the ‘patronage of the spouse of the Deputy President conjoined the efforts and secured the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of drugs and substance abuse,”
The committee was interrogating the status report on the budget implementation for the third and fourth quarter for the office of the Deputy President for the financial year 2023/2024
In the year under review, documents before the committee show that the office of the Deputy President was allocated Sh100.4 million for the refurbishment of the Harambee Annex office, Sh250 million for the refurbishment of Karen residence and Sh50 million for the refurbishment of his Mombasa office.
The cost of the entire refurbishment of the Harambee Annex office is estimated to be Sh450.4 million, the refurbishment of the Karen residence will cost taxpayers Sh560 million while the cost of the refurbishment of the Mombasa office will be Sh240 million.
Some of the refurbishments at the Karen include the expansion of the boardroom on the third and fourth floor as the officers told the committee that they are too small, the seven kitchenettes, painting and lighting of the whole building and upgrading of the CCTV in the building.
In a meeting with the Principal Administrative Secretary (PAS) in the office of Deputy President Moses Mbaruku, the committee also doubted the percentage of work done so far on the refurbishments of the three establishments as compared to the money spent so far.
The documents indicate that as at June 2024, the refurbishment of the Harambee Annex office stands at 22 percent, the refurbishment of the Karen residence is at 45 percent and the refurbishment is at 21 percent.
“We need a detailed scope of works done at the Mombasa office, Harambee Annex and the Karen residence,” said the committee chairman Gabriel Tongoyo.
Mr Tongoyo said the work done so far at the Mombasa office does not tally with the percentage indicated while they also have information that refurbishment at the Karen residence had been completed.
“From other sources, we are being told the building is complete and ready for use,” Mr Tongoyo said.
Mr Tongoyo questioned how the office that was built at a cost of Sh600 million now requires Sh560 million for refurbishments.
“We are being told that the office of the Deputy President was constructed at Sh600 million which is not far from the cost required for its refurbishment,” Mr Tongoyo said.
The committee vice chairman Did Raso questioned the rationale of spending up to Sh500 million on refurbishments alone.
“In refurbishments, we spent Sh500 million which is not pocket change. Are you sure that when this committee visits these areas, we will find that this money was spent and there is value for money? asked Mr Raso.
Also queried by the committee is Sh5, 023,000 million that the office of the Deputy President generated through the disposal of obsolete stores.
While Paul Kimani, an officer from the Office of the Deputy President told MPs that the money was spent after getting approval from the National Treasury, MPs claim there is no communication to that effect and it’s not reflected among the funds received from the exchequer.
“We got authority from the National Treasury and we were allowed to use the money and there is communication to that effect,” Mr Kimani told the committee.
The committee, however, said the office should have received less amount of Sh5 million in that financial year from the exchequer if they were allowed to spend the money at source.
“It is not much but it is public funds. Go back to the office and do a response in writing to the committee,” Mr Tongoyo said.
