Auditor General flags Ksh.1B wastage at Water ministry in stalled boreholes

The Ministry of Water is on the spot for accumulated irregular payments to contractors, with the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee flagging payments for the drilling of boreholes that have not been specified.

Ministry officials were put on the spot on Wednesday over an Auditor General report that flagged several irregular payments and questioned why Ksh.177 million was paid to finance drilling boreholes that were not specified in number in the first place.

Appearing before the MP Tindi Mwale-led committee, Water Principal Secretary Julius Korir defended the ministry's expenditure, noting that some of the payments were made when he was not the accounting officer in the ministry.

“Since you paid Ksh.177 million, which was not budgeted for, which items did you subtract from the approved budget for you to utilise the amount in the unbudgeted budget? Why was this payment made to an unknown number of boreholes?” Mwale asked.

Korir, in his response, said, “We can bring more documents to the committee that list the boreholes that benefited, their status and the locations.”

The irregular payments made for the drilling of boreholes are leaving behind more questions than answers, with MPs accusing the Water ministry of sinking millions into non-existent projects.

“We want the PS to table before this committee all the boreholes in the country so that we can be able to identify which are fictitious payments and which ones are not,” said Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo.

The Water ministry was also questioned over the Ksh.19.6 million paid for the Murang’a Lot 3 Irrigation Project, which has reportedly stalled beyond its completion time specified in the tender documents.

The PS was also to answer on the Ksh.176 million paid for the Kenyenyaini Irrigation Project that remains incomplete.

River Sagana Restoration Project, which was allocated Ksh.443.6 million, with some money paid, remains questionable according to the Auditor General.

Stalled constructions of the ablution blocks in Mtwapa and Mariakani, with Ksh.27 million paid to contractors, have nothing to show.

Taxpayers in the audit books have lost Ksh.5.5 million in the Olopito Irrigation Project, where a contractor was overpaid.

The Parkilat Water Project in Kilgoris Constituency is also on the spot, with the Water ministry having paid Ksh.14 million shillings for a piece of land that has no ownership documents.