• MPs raise fears of loss of funds.
• The Ushanga Initiative was birthed by the late Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery’s wife Hellen.
Image: FILE
A bead making initiative by women from marginalised counties is now a subject of scrutiny following concerns over the Sh500 million allocated to the venture.
Members of Parliament yesterday put the Tourism ministry to task over the project amid claims managers can not account for Sh80 million disbursed by the National Treasury.
The first batch was disbursed in the 2017-18 financial year while another Sh462 million was approved in the current financial year.
The Ushanga Initiative was birthed by the late Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery’s wife Hellen and was incorporated into the Tourism ministry through a gazette notice of July 2017.
It was on the basis of the gazette notice by Tourism CS Najib Balala that the project, which seeks to improve livelihoods for women in seven marginalised counties, was allocated funds by the government.
At its inception, the project was based at the Office of the Deputy President before it was moved to the Tourism ministry.
The gazette notice named Hellen Nkaissery as chairperson. Other members are Principal Secretaries for Tourism, Culture, Cooperatives, and Gender Affairs.
Also in the committee are the Principal Administrative Secretary in the Office of the DP, two county secretaries from the target counties, Council of Governors chief officer and Ushanga coordinator.
Ushanga is being rolled out in seven counties - Baringo, Marsabit, Narok, Kajiado, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot.
But questions have emerged on the legality of the venture which is yet to be established or anchored in law, and also how the same is being funded by the Treasury.
The issue is whether Ushanga is a state agency and on what basis it is being funded from the government’s coffers. MPs questioned the funding when Parliament was asked to factor it in the budget.
The Sports, Tourism, and Culture committee sent back Tourism PS Joe Okudo to prepare a better response over the emerging queries on the project’s funds.
The committee raised fears of loss of funds further suggesting that Ushanga be anchored in Women Enterprise Fund or Youth Enterprise Fund.
In his presentation, the PS lumped the expenditure for each vote head but did not give the specific details on what the money was spent on.
The PS said Sh2 million was spent on crafting the project’s business plan and for designing its website.
Okudo further said Sh2 million was spent on marketing and awareness, Sh25 million on equipment and Sh23 million on raw materials.
MPs specifically raised issues on Sh21 million lumped as travel and per diem for staff, asking that the same be backed by supporting documents.
They also asked why the equipment was not captured in the report but was "hidden" under recurrent expenses.
“How is purchase of equipment a recurrent expense?” Igembe Central MP Kubai Iringo asked.
Lawmakers further questioned why the project leaders bought orthopaedic seats yet it did not have offices to house the furniture.
The PS admitted there were errors in the breakdown, promising to sit with the project coordinators to iron out the variances.
He said the issues are now a subject of audit, adding that the ministry has responded to the Auditor General on the same.
The Ushanga Kenya Initiative website says the project is aimed at job creation and transformation of the living standards of the women from pastoralist communities.
The Sports and Tourism committee warned that the project risks getting scandalous if the law is not followed in implementing its activities.
Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna said the glaring issues must be addressed "before Kenyans lose money in the project".
He said the presentation lacks details and has conflicting figures citing a variance of Sh2 million in the budget totals as presented by the PS.
Nandi MP Tecla Tum sought to be briefed on the criteria used to identify the implementing counties and how the groups being supported by government were settled on.
Committee vice-chairman Lemei Korei warned that the project will run into trouble due to its accounting style.
Okudo said the ministry has embarked on establishing a system that would see the project sustain itself, adding that the same will factor risk control to avert any loss of cash.
“We have even patented the name Ushanga so that it is not claimed by other dealers or vendors like was the case of Hakuna Matata,” he said.