• Gathungu says records indicate that the county government allocated the money for the projects but only one had been completed.
• Another 110 were on progress and 310 had not started.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
The auditor general has questioned the inability by the Nandi government to complete 491 projects valued at Sh1.3 billion in the 2018-19 financial year.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu in her reports on counties says records indicate that the county government allocated the money for the projects but at the time of the audit, only one project had been completed.
Another 110 were on progress and 310 had not started.
“In view of the unsatisfactory performance in the implementation of projects, residents of Nandi did not obtain any tangible service or value from 491 projects that had been planned for execution during the year,” Gathungu says.
She says no plausible reason had been given by the county executive for the unsatisfactory performance.
The auditor general also queries the stalled construction of the Nandi county government headquarters which started in 2013 at a cost of Sh103 million but stalled with more than Sh97 million already paid to the contractor who was not on site.
In the year under review, the county allocated Sh55 million for the project but later reallocated the same.
The auditor general once again queries the delayed completion of 60 ECD centres in the county indicating that Sh114.3 million had been paid for the projects but 20 per cent of the work was yet to be done.
Gathungu says the county had imprudently handled the project supplies and execution of work in a manner that would lead to an overrun of costs.
On budget performance, the county had a budget of Sh8.4 billion for the year ended June 30, 2019, including Sh5.2 billion for recurrent development and Sh3.2 billion for development.
However on recurrent expenditure, the county underutilised Sh816 million which was 25 per cent of the allocated budget. It also underutilised Sh104 million meant for development.
“The under-absorption meant that some of the goods and services that residents of Nandi had expected to receive from the county during the year under review were not realised,” Gathungu said in her report.
The county is also cited for using more than Sh319 million on domestic and subsistence travels resulting in an over-expenditure of Sh96.5 million. The over-expenditure was done without approval by the county assembly.
The auditor general says the expenditure was an irregularity that led to diversion of public funds that had been budgeted to provide goods and services for residents of Nandi.
Nandi county executive also irregularly paid Sh2.9 million as travel allowances to MCAs to attend a meeting in Mombasa yet the county assembly operates its own budget.
“As a result of the irregular payments, the MCAs were made to oversight on monies they had directly benefited from and this action hampered good governance in the county government of Nandi,” the report indicates.
The auditor says the county statements indicated payments on acquisition of assets totalling to more than Sh1.9 billion, including an expenditure of Sh1.6 billion used on construction and refurbishment of buildings, roads and infrastructure.
No money was however set aside from payments to contractors to cover for defects and liabilities.
During the financial year under review the county had projected to get revenues of more than Sh8.4 billion, including Sh489 million from internal revenues while the rest was from the exchequer.