Fresh revelations that the Judiciary is seeking to sell the official residence of the Chief Justice (CJ) which cost Sh310 million but remained empty for 10 years have lifted the lid on wanton wastage in government.
The government has been splashing billions of shillings of taxpayers’ money to house top officials, but some of the palatial houses in high-end areas remain unoccupied.
They, however, continue to accrue running costs on top of annual renovations that gobble hundreds of millions of shillings.
Other than the billions of shillings used to buy them, the cost of maintaining and renovating such houses continues to pile.Sunday Nation
New CBK boss Kamau Thuge declined to respond to our queries on whether he would occupy the property that sits on two acres and neighbours the residence of former President Mwai Kibaki and the official houses of the US ambassador and British high commissioner.
The front view of the Senate Speaker’s official residence in Karen, Nairobi.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
Her predecessors – David Maraga and Willy Mutunga – did not live in the palatial home whose purchase was dogged with controversy.Sunday Nation
She cited budget constraints as the reason for not undertaking “extensive works needed on the property to make it habitable”.
The property was purchased from Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) official and former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama in a transaction that became a subject of investigations by the National Assembly and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in 2013.
EACC later recommended charges against then-Judiciary Registrar Gladys Shollei – current National Assembly Deputy Speaker and Uasin Gishu Woman Rep – and seven other people for failing to comply with procurement laws when buying the house.
The charge sheet stated that she used her position as the Judiciary chief registrar and the accounting officer of the institution to improperly pay Mr Muthama the Sh310 million for the house.
The official house of the Chief Justice in Runda, Nairobi. It has never been occupied.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
The charges were later withdrawn by then-Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko following a decision by the Court of Appeal that cases instituted by the EACC between May 2015 and June 2016 were defective as the agency did not have commissioners.
The Sunday Nation
Sources in Parliament, however, told the Sunday Nation
Central Bank of Kenya Governor’s official residence in Muthaiga.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
The Senate Speaker’s official residence in Karen was acquired at Sh150 million in 2013.Sunday Nation
Apart from a police officer at the gate, there were no activities or movement in and out of the property. The journalists were informed that the Speaker’s team recently visited the property to check on the planned renovation.
An official in Parliament had initially told the Sunday Nation
The house has several entertainment rooms, a prayer room and two sunken living rooms that make it possible to host different audiences at the same time.
The front view of the official residence of the Senate Speaker in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
We could not establish how much has been allocated for the renovations for the houses of the National Assembly and Senate speakers.
General and leakage repairs at the Senate Speaker’s residence cost taxpayers Sh1.8 million while the remaining Sh3 million was used on minor repairs and furnishing at the National Assembly Speaker’s official house.
In 2017, Parliament allocated Sh150 million for the refurbishment of the houses.
However, sources told the Sunday Nation
The DP has his office at Harambee Annex in the city centre, directly opposite of the President’s, Harambee House office.
In the 2022/23 financial year, the National Treasury allocated Sh94 million for repairs of State House and state lodges. [email protected]
