Members of Parliament on Wednesday, May 17, put to task Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) officials to produce copies of contracts for the construction of the Agency's headquarters in Mombasa County.
While appearing before the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, the officials were hard-pressed to showcase why the project undertaken during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's time was not factored in the 2020/2021 report.
Committee Chair David Pkosing directed Acting General John Omingo to present copies of all contracts relating to the project within seven days.
"You must take what we are doing here very seriously. The custodians of whatever report we will draft after this are the investigative agencies and even the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions who can institute further action," Pkosing stated.
The committee referenced the Auditor General's financial books on the Authority - which indicated that the project was under contract, without evidence for approval as required by the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.
According to the Agency's financial books, the capital work in progress on the project amounted Ksh1.8 Billion.
However, scrutiny of the books revealed that there had been the introduction of three new activities totalling Ksh5.5 Billion, which had not been factored in the contracted Bill of Quantities.
The committee also faulted KMA for not submitting annual reports of imports, exports and fees collected during the years in review.
This, according to the committee, contravened the Kenya Maritime Authority Act, 2006 which requires the Authority to submit the reports to Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) on a monthly and annual basis.
Other issues probed by the committee included the Agency's domestic and foreign travel allowances amounting to Ksh47.2 Million.
To break it down, this involved Ksh6.9 million for which the Agency had not provided boarding passes, air and bus tickets and approved annual activity plans as required by Law.
