A report by the Public Accounts Committee in the National Assembly indicates that the country cannot properly account for some of its foreign properties abroad due to documentation issues.
A report published by the Business Daily on Thursday, December 19, indicated that the government's lack of an asset register in accordance with the requirements of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act of 2015, had made it hard to lay claim on the properties.
Foreign affairs PS Ambassador Macharia Kamau, appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) confirmed the challenge that he stated was facing 13 of Kenya's properties whose details were not made public.
"The government does not have the title deeds to its properties in nine countries. Properties in seven countries are documented in foreign languages, while four others are registered in third party names," he revealed.
These properties are reported to be located in Italy, Burundi, South Sudan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Britain, Sweden, France, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, USA, Japan, and the Netherlands.
Lawyer Allan Magero, speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, December 19, explained that it would be a long process to verify the properties in case foreign governments were to laid claim to them due to the documentation challenges.
"First we would have to establish how the government came into the possession of the property. In the case of the property being registered to a third party, we would have to establish who the original owner was to see how the transfer took place before we delve into other things," he explained.
Magero further intimated that it was suspicious and unheard of for the government to appoint someone to be an agent of its property, casting further suspicions on how the country's properties ended up being registered in such a manner.
He clarified that it would also be hard for anyone to prove the ownership of the properties in contention in a court of law since there would be no way to justify the possession.
Opiyo Wandayi, the head of the PAC directed Ambassador Macharia Kamau to ensure that a complete fixed asset register was created, maintained and availed to the auditor general if requested in the next audit.
