Angry MPs slam 'hostile' maritime bosses in Sh2.2bn probe

For the second day, Kenya Maritime Authority officials on Wednesday struggled to explain variations in the cost of construction of their new office block at Mbaraki in Mombasa.

The KMA Towers was initially designed to cost Sh1.7 billion but ended up gobbling over Sh2.2 billion, a variation of more than Sh500 million.

The National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy led by chairman and Pokot South MP David Pkosing had to adjourn more than twice as the KMA officials could not provide the facts and figures asked for.

They had to be given time to make phone calls to get certain fiscal information and make photocopies of crucial documents.

When he saw that satisfactory answers were not forthcoming from the KMA officials, an agitated Eldas MP Adan Keynan at one point threatened to invoke the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act and declare the officials hostile.

“Once this is done, the consequence is that you will be charged and you will step aside,” Keynan said.

Led by Director General Dzombo Munga, the officials could barely explain why they continued having and paying the main consultant, even after officers from the State Department of Public Works were seconded to manage the project.

Munga said the authority received a letter from the PS informing them that the Public Works team was coming to join them.

“The team was to work alongside the consultant,” he said, much to the chagrin of the MPs.

The MPs, who are probing the possible loss of millions of taxpayers’ money, questioned the role of the Public Works officers in the project.

“What was the use of the consultant after Public Works took over the project? Why did you still pay the consultants?” Pkosing said.

Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri expressed concern that the Auditor General’s office failed to flag the duplication of roles by the consultant and the Public Works officers.

He argued that the Public Works officers, whom he termed as “strangers” and “tourists” in the project, took over the roles of the consultants.

Kiunjuri and Pkosing said the consultants were rendered useless once the Public Works Department took over the project, with Pkosing saying they (consultants) should have exited at that point.

Kiunjuri suggested that one of the consultants or the Public Works officers should be surcharged.

“Money was paid for the purpose supposed to be done by the consultant but which they did not do. So, we have a jobless person in the name of consultant who was still being paid.

“We should explore this to see who we should surcharge because it means that the consultants were deemed incompetent once Public Works came in,” the Laikipia East MP said.

According to KMA officials, the consultants’ fee was initially Sh63 million, which was to be paid in three instalments at the rate of 35 per cent for the first and second and 30 per cent for the final tranche.

However, there was also a variation of Sh106 million that was to be paid to the consultants.

Director General Munga said the Sh106 million was yet to be paid.

Kiunjuri described Public Works officers in the project as intruders who had no legal basis to audit what the consultant had done.

This is after the officers told the MPs they were brought on board while the project was ongoing and they were to work alongside the consultant.

“We were brought in because it is a government project. There were so many authorities that were doing works on their own. All government projects are done with the Public Works closely involved,” said an officer from the department.

He said Public Works was brought in as the project managers whose role was to oversee the consultant.

He said the consultant was doing reports, which they had to verify before any payment was done.

However, the Public Works officers said they were not paid for the work they were doing because they are government officials working on a government project.

But Aldai MP Marianne Kitany said this could not be possible because KMA funded their flights from Nairobi, accommodation, food and stay in Mombasa every time they flew to the Coast.

“KMA was also giving them allowances,” she said.