Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) management has revealed how taxpayers lost Ksh4.3 billion.
Appearing before the National Assembly's Public Investment Committee on Tuesday, the management disclosed that the money was paid to a contractor who was to undertake the ambitious Greenfield terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
They further noted that the payment was made before the contractor undertook any work after which the project contract was terminated.
KAA Managing Director Jonny Andersen admitted that recovering the money "is a very complex affair."
[caption caption="Managing Director and CEO of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Jonny Andersen with the Chairman of the KAA Board of Directors Julius Karangi during a press briefing"]
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"The Sh4,310,901,805 was paid to the contractor as part of the advance payment as provided for in the contract agreement. The same was to be recovered by offsetting from subsequent progress payments, while Sh129.9 million was paid to the consultants for project supervision and design review fees, which was contractually payable on the time basis," Mr Andersen stated.
The committee's chairman Abdulswamad Nassir mentioned that it was shocking that such a colossal amount could have so easily gone down the drain.
Expressing their surprise on the report, the committee wondered how the contractor, M/S ACEG-CATIC JV, landed the lucrative tender for what was to be one of the Vision 2030 flagship projects and even got paid before starting construction of the mega-project that was to cost Ksh65.4 billion.
Additionally, he called on the committee to investigate further to establish if there was any collusion to swindle taxpayers through the project.
"This is a matter that we will certainly dig deep into... because while the contract was terminated, how does KAA recover the Sh4 billion? We will also have to interrogate a number of people, including some of our colleagues, who could know more about this loss," exclaimed the Mvita MP.
KAA management also reported that they spent Ksh75 million on the groundbreaking ceremony that was presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 23, 2014 sparking a flurry of questions on what the money was spent on.
Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya was the Minister in charge of Transport at the time the project was terminated and the committee is expected to summon him regarding the issue.
[caption caption="Kipipiri MP Amos Kimunya appearing before the parliament"]
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