Former principal secretaries, former KETRACO CEOs and senior energy officials are under scrutiny as a parliamentary watchdog committee investigates wayleave compensation payments amounting to billions of shillings.
This is after the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee opened an investigation into Sh17.02 billion in payments that lawmakers have questioned
The lawmakers have summoned a sitting Principal Secretary, former accounting officers and past Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) bosses to explain compensation payments made over a 13-year period.
Among those expected to appear before the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a current governor.
The probe stems from a Special Audit Report that reviewed wayleave compensation payments in seven donor-funded power transmission projects between the 2010-11 and 2022-23 financial years.
Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale, said the decision to summon the officials was reached after PS Wachira failed to appear before the committee to respond to queries raised in the forensic audit report.
"As a Committee, we are committed to establishing the genuineness of the compensation claims and whether Kenyans obtained value for money from the projects," Mwale said.
The audit examined a compensation programme worth Sh17.02 billion and raised questions that MPs now want answered.
The audit revealed that the compensation programme had been allocated Sh17.02 billion, with Sh4.03 billion still unpaid despite the projects spanning over 13 years.
The lawmakers expressed concern over the scale of the payments and the length of time over which the compensation programme was implemented, raising questions about oversight, verification of claims and overall project management.
The committee has now widened the scope of the inquiry to include former Principal Secretaries and all accounting officers who oversaw the projects during the review period.
"We want every officer who was responsible for these projects at different stages to come before the committee and explain the decisions that were made," Mwale directed.
The investigation focuses on wayleave compensation paid to landowners affected by the construction of high-voltage electricity transmission lines.
Such payments are intended to compensate property owners for allowing transmission infrastructure to pass through their land.
However, auditors raised concerns that have prompted MPs to examine whether all beneficiaries met the eligibility requirements and whether the compensation amounts paid reflected actual entitlements.
The projects under investigation are among Kenya's most significant regional power infrastructure investments and were financed by development partners to strengthen electricity connectivity and improve power supply across East Africa.
They include the Ethiopia-Kenya Transmission Line, the Kenya-Tanzania Transmission Line and the Kenya-Uganda Transmission Line.
Also under scrutiny are the Kenya Power Transmission System Improvement Project, the Turkwel-Ortum-Kitale Transmission Line, the Olkaria-Lessos Transmission Line and the Nairobi Ring Road Transmission Line.
The inquiry seeks to establish how billions of shillings were handled over the life of the projects, with current and former officials expected to account for decisions made under their watch
