Senators have commenced investigations into how the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services accumulated Sh16 million in pending bills.
The lawmakers are also inquiring into all procurements done and projects undertaken by the agency for the period it existed.
In the inquiry that could expose the activities of the entity that performed some City Hall functions, the lawmakers want to establish how the agency incurred such huge debt in only two years.
NMS was formed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta to undertake some critical functions of the city county that the then-governor Mike Sonko had signed off to the National government.
It was headed by Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi who served as its director general.
The functions were health services, public works, transport, physical planning and auxiliary services.
Badi handed over the functions to the new governor Johnson Sakaja, following the August 9 General Election.
“The committee should provide a comprehensive report on the pending bills accumulated in Nairobi City County in the last two years,” Senate Majority Whip Boni Khalwale said in a statement seeking the inquiry.
Khalwale, in the statement that was approved by speaker Amason Kingi, wants the House Finance and Budget Committee, which will conduct the probe, to indicate the amount owed to the respective service providers.
The committee will also indicate the financial year in which the pending bills were incurred.
Nairobi is one of the counties with huge pending bills, running into billions of shillings.
The Kakamega senator asked the committee to find out whether the Nairobi Metropolitan Services adhered to the procurement laws in procuring the goods and services.
Details of whether the projects implemented by the entity were tendered for, those who won the tenders and the amounts will also be provided.
“The committee should indicate the plans, if any, put in place by the Nairobi City County Government to ensure all contractors owed money by the county are paid before the end of the current financial years.
In a separate inquiry that will be undertaken by Roads and Transportation Committee, the lawmakers will establish the cause of the delay in the operationalisation of the Green Park Terminus.
The terminus was constructed by NMS to accommodate public service vehicles plying several city routes in a bid to decongest the city.
The terminus was expected to be operational in May this year but several test runs have proved unproductive as massive traffic jam was witnessed in the city.
“The committee should explain the reasons for the non-completion of the upgrade of the project for Uhuru Park and Central Park that commenced in September, 2021,” Khalwale said.
The committee will establish the budgeted cost of the project and indicate the amount spent on the project so far.
“The committee should state when the bus terminus will be operationalised and the park project completed,” Khalwale demanded in the statement.
The lawmakers are also seeking to find out the status of the more than 24 health facilities that were built by the agency to improve health services in the informal settlements.
“The committee should provide the status reports on the completion and operationalisation of each of those health facilities indicating the respective cost of construction or rehabilitation,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara