• Referral hospital was one of governor's flagship projects, stalled for seven years with less than a month before Khaemba exits office.
• Project started in 2015, and to be completed in 2019. It still is not completed.
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The Auditor General has criticised the delay in completion of the Sh1.4 billion Trans Nzoia Teaching and Referral Hospital stalled for more than five years.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu's latest audit was for 2019-20.
The hospital, which was one of county's flagship projects, has remained stalled with less than a month before Governor Patrick Khaemba exists office.
Gathungu said procurement records indicated the executive awarded a contract for construction of a teaching and referral hospital at Sh1.4 billion in 2016-17.
The project started on December 15, 2017, and was expected to be completed in 62 weeks on February 23, 2019.
Gauthungu said examination of project documents indicated that cumulative payments to the contractor as at December 4, 2020, totalled Sh1.3 billion.
The contractor had partially handed over completed sections of the works: the warehouse, incinerator, biomedical gases unit, kitchen and laundry. Much of the project remains incomplete.
The auditor said contrary to Section 139(1 & 2) of the Public Procurement and Assets Disposals Act, 2015, there were no records showing that the extension of the contract period was approved after the lapse of the original due date on February 23, 2019.
Two leading candidates vying for governor position have pledged to complete the project if elected. They are George Natembeya of the DAP-K party within Azimio and Chris Wamalwa of Ford Kenya through the Kenya Kwanza alliance
At the same time Gathungu said the statement of receipts and payments reflects the county own-generated receipts totalled Sh356. 1 million for the year under review.
She said the balance includes Sh171.3 million collected in public health facilities. However, examination of revenue records at the Kitale County Referral Hospital revealed under-banking of revenue totaling Sh25.5 million being the difference between total receipts amounting to Sh121.5 million and amounts banked.
This was denoted by transfers to the County Revenue Fund, totalling Sh96 million.
“As a result, the own-generated revenue receipts balance totalling Sh356.1 million reflected in the financial statements was not be fairly stated,” Gathungu said.
She said by failing to bank all receipts, the county management violated Section 109(2) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012. It which requires all revenue receipts to be paid into the County Revenue Fund.
On the county budget, Gathungu said the summary statement of appropriation, recurrent and development combined, reflects approved budget expenditure of Sh7.9 billion against actual expenditure totalling Sh6.4 billion.
From the figures, she said the county recorded an under-absorption of Sh1.5 billion, equivalent to 19 per cent of the budget.
“As a result of the shortfall of revenue and the under-expenditure, some of the programmes and activities planned for the year under review were not implemented.
As a result, delivery of services to the residents of Trans Nzoia county was constrained," the Auditor General Said.
(Edited by V. Graham).