- The National Museums of Kenya has land, structures and equipment valued at Sh3.52 billion
- NMK evicted all tenants from its Ndemi Flats to enable repair works but the building has remained vacant for four years.
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The National Museums of Kenya with land alone valued at Sh1.57 billion has never been revalued since the 1990s, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has reported.
In her report for the year ended June 30, 2020, Gathungu said NMK has 150 parcels of land countrywide but only 43 of them have title deeds.
“The remaining 107 parcels have no ownership documents,” the auditor reports.
The report said the museum's statement of financial position showed that NMK has property, plants and equipment, plus land valued at Sh3.52 billion.
“The property and plant equipment net book value of Sh3,522,281,770 included heritage assets whose value could not be verified due to lack of a fixed asset register,” the report read.
It further said NMK did not disclose the heritage assets that have future economic benefits or service potential beyond their heritage value.
“In addition, the National Museums has not disclosed other heritage assets matters, such as the measurement basis, method used, gross carrying amount and accumulated depreciation at the end of the period,” it added.
NMK is a state corporation established by an Act of Parliament, the Museums and Heritage Act 2006.
It is a multi-disciplinary institution whose role is to collect, preserve, study, document and present Kenya’s past and present cultural and natural heritage.
It manages regional museums, sites and monuments of national and international importance alongside priceless collections of Kenya’s living cultural and natural heritage.
The Auditor General further cited delayed construction of an ablution block at the Institute of Primate Research and a boundary wall at its headquarters.
According to the report, NMK evicted all tenants from its Ndemi flats to enable repair works , but the building has remained vacant for four years.
“At the time of eviction, the rental income was estimated at Sh850,000. However, the building has remained vacant for four years. This resulted in a loss of Sh40,800,000 as at June 30, 2020,” the report read
“The building continues to deteriorate through wear and tear due to natural weathering and disuse. It has not been explained why the management evicted the tenants without undertaking planning adequately for the commencement of repair works.”
-Edited by SKanyara