A parliamentary committee has blocked the Treasury from releasing Ksh680 million that was intended to be used for the construction of a prefabricated structure at the COMESA grounds at the KICC.
The proposed temporary structure was to serve as a Ministry of Tourism exhibition center with the capacity to hold between 15,000 and 20,000 delegates.
The Ksh680 million was part of Ksh1.5 Billion required to construct the facility including civil works and furnishing.
Sports, Culture and Tourism Committee chairperson Victor Munyaka stated that the committee made the decision after consultation with the Budget Appropriation Committee.
“The budget committee advised us against approving the money until we get the finer details from the ministry, which is the parent ministry of KICC. We plan to hear from them in the coming days,” Munyaka stated.
The money had been included in the Tourism ministry’s supplementary budget.
According to documents seen by Business Daily, Ksh799,015,957 was be used for the construction of the exhibition.
Civil works and furnishing was to consume another Ksh700 million. The temporary structure was expected to be complete within six months.
Parbat Siyani Construction, a local firm, won the tendering processes according to an April 11, 2019 letter of award issued by KICC CEO Nana Gecaga.
Earlier, the National Assembly Investment Committee had been left baffled by the amount of money that was to be used on a temporary structure.
"Investing such an amount of money in a prefab is disturbing. On this one, they will just have to come and explain how it was done,” the committee chairperson Abdullswamad Shariff stated.
The land that was earmarked is also in contention because on January 31, the court barred KICC from doing any development on the land because it was unallocated government land.
