Ministry tricked MPs into extra Sh500m Utalii College funding

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By EDWIN MUTAI

In Summary

• The committee is investigating how the project’s cost rose to Sh8.9 billion and later reduced to Sh4.9 billion without Cabinet approval.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) Henry Rotich has said Tourism ministry tricked Parliament into approving additional Sh500 million for construction of Ronald Ngala Utalii College after he declined to authorise the allocation in the budget.

He told the Public Investment Committee (PIC) that the Cabinet did not approve a memo scaling down the project to Sh4.9 billion but the National Assembly, through the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee altered the supplementary budget for 2013/14 to provide Sh500 million for the project.

“We wanted the Cabinet to endorse the changes from Sh8.9 billion to Sh4.9 billion. But that memo has not been approved . We did what we were supposed to do,” Mr Rotich told MPs yesterday.

The minister said he turned down a request by the Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism for additional Sh1.3 billion for payment of pending bills and drew the attention of the minister to the breach of procurement law and the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 in the award of the multibillion-shilling tender without an approved budget.

Scaled up

“I wrote to my counterpart drawing attention to the fact that the project had been scaled up from Sh1.9 billion that the Cabinet approved in 2007 to Sh8.9 billion. The scaling up had no Cabinet backing and the project was awarded to the contractor without a budget,” he told the PIC chaired by Eldas MP Adan Keynan.

READ: Kandie summoned to explain Sh8.9bn tender

The committee is investigating how the project’s cost rose to Sh8.9 billion and later reduced to Sh4.9 billion without Cabinet approval.

Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge the said the House Finance Committee saw the need to allocate the funds following a visit to the Kilifi construction site organised by the Tourism ministry.

PIC members Nominated MP Oburu Oginga and Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita, who also sit on the Finance Committee were shocked that ministry officials tricked lawmakers into allocating the money.

“I am member of Finance Committee and the information was not availed to us that there was no Cabinet approva,” Mr Oginga said.

emutai@ke.nationmedia.com