•In her latest audit report, the auditor general says the project has insufficient internal control to ensure that cylinders are of proper quality before taxpayers' money is disbursed to the contracted suppliers.
•The government through the State Department of Petroleum started the Mwananchi Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Project in 2016 to promote the use of modern cooking fuel among low-income households.
Image: FILE
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has flagged how the Sh3 billion government project to distribute gas cylinders to poor households is being done.
In her latest audit report, the auditor general says the project has insufficient internal control to ensure that cylinders are of proper quality before taxpayers' money is disbursed to the contracted suppliers.
The government through the State Department of Petroleum started the Mwananchi Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Project in 2016 to promote the use of modern cooking fuel among low-income households.
The project entails the supply and distribution of 6kg Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, grills, and burners to households at subsidized prices, and the erection of facilities to store the cylinders at local distribution points.
The National Oil Corporation of Kenya was engaged to implement the project with the role to ensure the components are distributed to the households.
It was to be piloted in 11 sub-counties in Nairobi.
The second phase of it involved the distribution of filled 6kg cylinders with a smart metering device, a horse pipe and two low burner tabletop cookers.
But a review of its implementation in the last financial year showed lapses in the documentation and accounting for some of the monies advanced to it.
For example, the report shows, that at the initial stages of roll out of the project, a total of 79,057 LPG cylinders or 74 per cent of the 106,186 cylinders supplied for the first phase were defective.
“A beneficiary identification mechanism for the procured LPG cylinders and 20,000 low burner tabletop cookers was yet to be developed, raising doubts on readiness for implementation,” the report by Gathungu stated.
“There was no smart metering service and technical support in place at the source point for dispensing LPG to consumers and there was no policy for recognition and accounting for revenue from the sale of LPG cylinders and LPG from the smart metering dispensing.”
The auditor general concluded that given the challenges, “it was not possible to confirm whether the project objective would be achieved and whether the project is sustainable”.
The report also raises the flag on the failure by the department to hand over funds for functions meant for the fuel prices regulator Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
It says that the statement of receipts and payments forwarded to it showed Sh1.7 billion relating to the acquisition of assets.
Of this figure, Sh704,787,543 was incurred on the acquisition of data, supervision of upstream activities, and local content enforcement.
The report says these functions are a preserve of EPRA.
“The payments were made under research, studies, project preparation, design, and supervision. However, according to Section 45 and Section 51(1) of the Petroleum Act, 2019, these functions fall under the mandate of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA)."
“In the circumstances, it was not possible to ascertain whether the activities were complimenting EPRA functions or a duplication of mandate.”