Mandago at pains to explain Sh372 million stalled projects

Uasin Gishu residents were denied services in stalled projects and could have lost millions of shillings in contracts terminated by the county government.

The revelations emerged during the questioning of Governor Jackson Mandago by a Senate watchdog committee over audit queries on Monday.

The queries were flagged by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the period ending June 30, 2019.

The county boss was put on the spot by the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee to explain why several projects initiated by his administration, some in his first term, had stalled thus denying the residents services.

It also emerged the county administration had terminated some contractors, exposing taxpayers’ money to risk of loss.

According to the auditor's report, out of the 54 development projects worth Sh1.35 billion initiated by the county, nine, valued at Sh372.71 million, had stalled with Sh79.57 million already paid to the contractors.

The county executive did not provide explanations as to why the works stalled or disclose the actions it had taken to revive and complete them, the report states.

Six of the projects worth Sh522.63 million were ongoing at the time of the audit while 39 projects worth Sh460.61 million had been completed.

“With the projects having stalled, no value has been received on funds totaling Sh79.57 million invested therein and further, the services the projects were expected to provide to the residents of Uasin Gishu county have not been realised,” the report reads.

In addition, the county was indicted for spending Sh132.08 million on construction of a building that later stalled.

The auditor also flagged delays in the construction of milk coolers despite the county making payments amounting to Sh187.07 million.

“Available information indicates that construction of 13 milk cooling plants contracted at Sh63.45 million and for which payments totaling Sh40.88 million were made had stalled.

"The contracts were thereafter terminated and tenders for the works re-advertised in October, 2019,” the report states.

The governor, in his response, said most of the projects were at their initial stages of implementation when the auditors visited the site, saying that some of them have since been completed.

Others, he said, are already in use while others are at various stages of completion.

The county boss told the oversight committee chaired by Migori Senator Ochillo Ayacko that his administration was forced to terminate some of the contracts after it emerged that some contractors were unable to complete the works.

“The problem we identified is that some contractors were under-quoting the contract sum. And in the middle of the work, they found that the amount they quoted was too little,” the governor said.

But the legislators took issue with the high number of stalled projects and the termination of contracts.

They questioned whether the county tender committee conducted due diligence before awarding the contracts and demanded to know whether the terminations had financial implications.

“Did you have capacity challenges? Did the tender committee do due diligence before awarding these tenders,” Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei asked.

Ayacko, Christopher Langat (Bomet), Margaret Kamar (Uasin Gishu) and Johanness Mwaruma (Taita Taveta) also demanded to know if taxpayers incurred any losses.

The governor, who is leaving office next year after serving the two terms as stipulated in the Constitution, denied any loss of cash, explaining that the contractors whose contracts were terminated were only paid for the works they had done.

But Cherargei insisted that any termination of the contracts and the subsequent re-tendering must have financial implications.

“Provided you have re-tendered, of course, the cost will go up. Did the taxpayers lose money in these terminations?” Cherargei pressed.

Edited by Henry Makori