A Parliamentary committee has directed the Office of the Auditor General to carry out a special audit on the Sh7.2 billion Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Scheme project.
The Senate Agriculture committee was responding to an initial audit report done by the National Irrigation Board–the project’s implementing agency–saying that it had ‘major gaps’.
The Embu Senator Njeru Ndiwiga-chaired committee on Thursday noted that upon scrutiny, it found out that the audit had major gaps.
“The committee held a meeting with the office of Auditor General and resolved that another special audit on the project should be carried out guided by specific terms of reference defined by the committee,” the report reads.
The President Uhuru Kenyatta flagship project is aimed at attaining food security but has been shrouded in mystery since its initiation.
The committee has been investigating the project since the Israeli contractor, Green Arava, dumped it last year for lack of equipment.
Green Arava chairman Yariv Kedar accused the Agriculture ministry of frustrating efforts to have the equipment shipped.
He told the committee in May that ministry officials had insisted on a bill of lading as proof of purchase and shipment of the equipment before committing funds it.
“The ministry is in breach of the contract we signed which says payments be made before equipment is supplied…the interest to kill the project is political,” Kedar said.
In the report, the committee said it is engaging the ministry, NIB and other stakeholders to see to it that the project is successfully implemented.
“The committee will hold a follow-up meeting with of the Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Scheme Project to chart a way forward for the completion of the project,” the report notes.
Edited by R.Wamochie
