The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) risks losing more than 91 hectares in Kitale town to grabbers, an audit shows.
The plant health monitor has recovered 34.09 hectares out of 125.3 in Trans Nzoia County that were irregularly possessed by private developers or occupied by illegal settlers.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says Kephis had by June 30, 2021 recovered the 34.09 hectares. “The prospects for recovery of the remainder 91.21 hectares were not disclosed by the management,” Ms Gathungu said in an audit for the year to June 2021.
Kephis in 2019 told Parliament that it had fenced 120 hectares out of the 330 it received from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) from which it was hived off. Kalro does not have titles for the 330 hectares.
Kephis was hived off Kalro in 1996 and allocated several parcels of land in Nakuru, Kiambu and Trans Nzoia.
A letter from the National Land Commission tabled in Parliament by Kephis shows the 48 private developers and grabbers have been allocated leases.
Ms Gathungu questioned the accuracy of the property, plant and equipment balance of Sh1.1 billion, saying the land, buildings and other assets of the plants inspector were last valued in November 2009.
She said part of the aggregate fixed assets balance is Sh264.7 million being the total value of 11 parcels in Nakuru, Kiambu, Trans Nzoia, Embu, Nairobi and Kisumu counties.
“However, the Inspectorate Service did not possess ownership documents for the land in Nakuru, Kiambu (Muguga) and Kitale,” Ms Gathungu said.
“Although records provided for audit indicated management had made efforts to have ownership of the Nakuru and Kiambu (Muguga) lands transferred from the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro to Kephis), it was not certain when the title documents would be obtained.”
Ms Gathungu said in the circumstances, ownership of property, plant and equipment, and accuracy of the book balance of Sh1.1 billion as at June, 2021 could not be confirmed.
Kephis has headquarters in Nairobi and branches in Mombasa, Nakuru, Kitale, Embu, Kisumu and Naivasha.
