- Management at KALRO had been asked to give explanations on the question of land, property and equipment ownership at the institution.
- Wanyonyi asked the chair to intervene with adjournment until the witnesses were ready to appear with relevant answers.
Image: Kurgat Marindany
A parliamentary committee turned away the management of a research institute over failure to give sufficient answers to 27 issues raised in a report by the Auditor General.
National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration and Agriculture told the management of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to go and come back later with proper answers.
The committee chaired by Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), with the backing of Mary Wamaua (Maragwa) and Ferdinand Wanyonyi (Kwanza) agreed to send away KARLO boss Eliud Kireger and his team from Finance and legal department.
According to the committee, the team could not provide sufficient answers to queries raised in Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s report for the 2019/2021 Financial Year.
According to the report, the management at KALRO had been asked to give explanations on the question of land, property, and equipment ownership at the institution.
The report established that many parcels of land under KALRO in many parts of the country like Central Kenya, the Rift Valley and Nairobi did not have title deeds.
There was also the issue of openness in the issue of donor funding.
The office of the Auditor General did not capture in time the income and the institution could not convince the committee why they delayed providing the information.
The committee questioned why KALRO was not providing information on donor agreements in good time.
In his response, the CEO acknowledged the difficulty in resolving the issues including recovering debts.
We have no hopes of recovering the debt from KPCU. These are problems we inherited from our predecessors. We have written to them but we are yet to get a response,” Kireget said.
Wanyonyi asked the chair to intervene with adjournment until the witnesses were ready to appear with relevant answers.
"There seems to be a serious managerial problem in KALRO. The institution’s top management, finance, and legal, the entire management have a problem."
"I, therefore, send them away to go prepare themselves then come back here on 29th of this month with sufficient answers,” Wangwe directed.