The National Land Commission could not account for Sh711 million said to have been paid out as compensation fee for various projects in the last financial year.
In his adverse opinion, the Auditor General Edward Ouko also fingered the commission for inaccuracies in their financial statements and unexplained pending bills worth Sh196 million as of June 30, 2018.
The auditor queried the compensation for three parcels of land to Regional Container Freight at Sh224 million.
“The valuation reports for the three parcels of land were not produced. In the circumstances, the propriety of expenditure of Sh224 million could not be confirmed,” the report said.
A supermarket on land LR 13858 measuring 0.0909 was paid Sh45 million as compensation for Thika Road project whose validity could not be confirmed as valuations reports were not availed by NLC to the auditors.
The money was received from the State Department of Housing and Urban Development. However no signed valuation report was availed other than a handwritten draft which valued the land at Sh 135 million.
Furthermore, although the supermarket was registered in July 2015, the lease agreement between the landowner and the supermarket was December 2009, meaning the lease was entered into before the supermarket was incorporated.
In another case, other than being paid Sh135 million as part of the acquisition of 50 acres for Landfill Mitubiri/ Wempa Block 1/6824 in Murang'a the landowner was paid Sh82 million as a disturbance allowance even though the land in question had not been occupied.
Another payment in question is Sh360 million to a law firm on behalf of a client for interruption and loss of business for plot No MN/VI/4806 in Mombasa despite zero clarity on how the value of interruption and loss of business was arrived at as no valuation report was availed.
There was also Sh23 million discrepancies in the commission's financial statements.
The auditor could not authenticate the accuracy of Sh7 billion assets and liabilities statement, as reconciliation statement for National Bank compensation fund account reflects unprecedented cheques totalling Sh61,314 whose clearance status as at the time of the audit in December 2018 was not shown.
The auditor was also unable to confirm whether the process of acquisition of Ruaraka land was procedural and payment of Sh1.5 billion made to the vendor was a proper charge to public funds.
“I confirm that public resources have not been applied lawfully and in an effective way,” Ouko said in conclusion.
