Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya appeared before the Senate committee to answer for severely delayed projects within his jurisdiction. The discrepancies in project completion had been noted by the Auditor-General, Nancy Gathungu in a previous audit.
He was grilled on Wednesday, July 7 by the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC). The probe was chaired by Migori Senator Ochillo Ayacko. Mvurya reportedly struggled to elaborate how the governor’s residence construction project had been delayed since being commissioned in 2018. Construction had been set for completion by the close of April 2019 and had been allocated Ksh 149 million.
In his defence, Mvurya blamed the setback on unfavourable weather conditions and boundary disputes within the construction site. Along with that, he claimed that the project’s scope had been altered for various reasons. The above-stated reasons were apparently the cause for the gross delay on his administration’s part. The commission additionally noted that construction had been extended to April 2020.
In an audit conducted by Nancy Gathungu, it came out that there was no signage put in place to verify the project owner. Mvurya, however, retorted that the signage had been eaten by termites at the time of audit. He additionally emphasized that the project was about to be completed.
The committee also made an inquiry into the stalling of other multiple multi-billion projects in Kwale County as part of the grilling. Over Ksh 2.2 billion worth of projects are reportedly unfinished or partially complete -at best- as of June 2019.
The 2018/19 audit report has faulted Kwale County for not installing proper monitoring systems to ensure projects are implemented as per requirements and within the set time frame.
The report also indicated that signage meant to inform on names of projects, their contractors, supervisors and project deadlines ultimately resulted in poor service delivery to the county’s residents.
Some of the projects pointed out for further scrutiny include construction of county headquarters. This scheme was allocated Ksh 462 million. Installation of reinforced of an amphitheatre which was costed at Ksh 6 million also stood out in the report.
Also noteworthy was the construction of a perimeter wall at a rehabilitation centre at Ksh9.7 million, levelling of sports fields at Mvindeni, Kwale’s main stadium was to be done at a cost of Ksh 16 million. The office of the auditor general also flagged a construction project of a fresh produce wholesale market at Kombani quoted at Ksh 106 million and finally the acquisition of 18 motorbikes.
However, Mvurya was adamant in refuting information from the reports, assuring the committee that some projects were done. They include the county headquarters which was in use, as he claimed at Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) during the inquiry.
Kwale’s county government is also in trouble for apparently hiring an overly significant number staff from one tribe.
