OLKALOU CDF GREENHOUSE PROJECT THAT APPEARS ON PAPER ONLY

A report by the Auditor General reveals that the Olkalou CDF allocated Sh679,184 was allocated for construction of demonstration green houses for eight schools, Sh84,898 per school, during 2012/2013 financial year.

However, a visit made in February 2014 to four out of eight schools namely Ruriii, Huruma, Busara Academy and AC Olkalou primary schools showed that these projects had not been implemented at the time of the audit.

Further, the CDF committee did not explain how the allocated funds were utilised and accounted for.  Pressure is now mounting on the CDF committee members and the management of the schools to explain why the projects have failed to take off and the safety of the money allocated for the projects. 

In the neighbouring Kinangop constituency, a total of Sh9 million was allocated by the CDF committee to fund purchase of computers for schools in the constituency during 2012/2013 financial year.

The contract for the supply of computers was awarded to a Nyahururu-based company at Sh4.5m. The committee did not adhere to section 88 subsection (b) and section 89(b) of the public procurement and disposal regulation 2006 since they procured the computers through quotations instead of open tender.

The committee, the report says, was in breach of the law. Further, although 100 computers were shown as delivered on the delivery notes, the CDF management did not show how the computers were distributed or indicate which schools benefited from the computers. It was also noted that the computers were not entered in the stores records as required before being issued.

Further, the Kinangop CDF committee allocated Sh4m for purchase of medical laboratory equipment for various dispensaries and health centres within the constituency. The contract for the supply of this equipment was awarded to a Nairobi-based company at a contract sum of Sh3,992,800. However, no contract agreement was made available for audit verification.

It was further observed that the CDF committee procured the medical equipment by floating quotations instead of open tenders as required by the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005. Further, the verification by the inspection and acceptance committee report was not done by a technical person. The CDF committee was therefore in breach of the law.

The physical verification of the equipments supplied could not be carried out since the CDF management did not make available the list of benefiting dispensaries and health centres. In the circumstances, it was not possible to ascertain whether all the equipments were supplied and distributed to the intended beneficiaries.

The CDF committee procured fuel worth Sh1,047,750. The fuel was to be used by CDF vehicles. However, it was observed that the fuel was not recorded in the stores records and in the fuel register. Detailed usage orders and other related records such as work tickets for the vehicles used were also not being maintained contrary to the government financial regulation and procedures. In the circumstances, it has not been possible to confirm that the fuel worth Sh1,047,750 was actually procured, used for the intended purposes and properly accounted for.

It has also been noted that Kinangop CDF disbursed Sh1.9 million to Baraka Primary School committee for the purchase of land for construction of a new primary school. However, although the parcel of land purchased was physically seen, the official search details and ownership documents were not made available for audit verification.

Further, although the land sale agreement was drawn in July 2012, the valuation of land was done in October 2012, four months later. The school committee management did not explain why the valuation of the land was carried out after the payment had already been done. Under the circumstances, it was not possible to confirm the ownership and the actual value of the land purchased.

It has also been noted that Kinangop CDF committee single sourced provision of training services of Ndunyu Njeru motor bike cyclists and awarded the tender to a driving school based in Kinangop at a contract sum of Sh1,983,400. The payment for the services was made from CDF bursary account which was assistance of needy students within the constituency.

It was not explained why it was necessary to train motor bike operators using bursary funds. Further, no report was made available to confirm whether all intended participants went through the training to justify the payment made. It could not be ascertained whether the fees charged were competitive enough in the absence of competitive bidding.