- Njeng'ere who was speaking while submitting budget estimates to the National Assembly committee on education said the stalled building will soon be complete.
- The Knec boss requested the education committee to set aside time to have a meeting with the council on the progress of the building.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
There's hope for a 36-year-old stalled Mitihani House which might be complete before this year ends.
Kenya National Examinations Council CEO David Njeng’ere committed to ensuring the building is complete.
This is after MPs demanded to know why Mitihani House is still incomplete.
Njeng'ere who was speaking while submitting budget estimates to the National Assembly committee on education, said the stalled building will soon be complete.
“I want you to take notice of the fact that by the end of this year, all the staff in KNEC are going to be in the new building,” he said.
Njeng’ere who came into office on July 1 last year said his assumption to office was met with a court order.
“The first thing I found on my desk was a case at the procurement tribunal to explain the circumstances in which one of the contractors had not been awarded his dues for the previous financial year,” Njeng’ere said.
A year later, another contractor filed a case against the council over pending bills.
“This financial year we had a court case where there was an injunction that there should be no construction in that building,” he said.
Njeng'ere added that it’s the National Treasury that advised Knec to settle the pending bills with the contractor before proceeding.
“I am sure that is what every Kenyan has desired to achieve, we wouldn’t have reached there if we would have ignored the advice from the treasury that we need to sort the pending bill,” he said.
The Knec boss requested the education committee to set aside time to have a meeting with the council on the progress of the building.
“If this committee can give us a session, we can engage with you and reach a consensus. I would like to share with this committee a very detailed background of this building, where it is, and where we are heading," he added.
This comes after education committee chair Florence Mutua expressed her disappointment with the council.
Mutua said the Mitihani House project has affected the early learning and basic education sector budget.
She questioned Njeng'ere on what informed the decision to settle pending bills with money allocated for the construction.
“Mitihani House has messed the entire sector, especially the basic education sector, and then when you are given the money you go and do other things that were not approved,” Mutua said.
She demanded answers on who authorised the "settling pending bills" resolution.
Mutua, regretted the decision to factor in more funds to the council towards the completion of the building.
“I wish I had given Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development that money because they would be very far because they are at 80 per cent already,” she added.
Since 2016, the government has pumped more than Sh2.5 billion towards Mitihani House completion.
Knec is still requesting Sh2 billion up to the financial year 2024/2025 towards its construction.
As the project delays, there are concerns that Knec could be spending taxpayers’ money on rent at a rate of Sh110 million every year.
-Edited by SKanyara