Economy

Ouko: Counties losing billions in incomplete jobs

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Auditor-General Edward Ouko. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Counties in Western region may have misappropriated billions of shillings leaving various projects incomplete several years after expiry of construction timelines.

Physical verification by the office of the Auditor General indicated that some of the projects did not start while some stalled at early stages despite getting allocations.

Coincidentally, some of the counties in the region are battling court cases filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged graft.

Migori, Busia, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Kisii, Siaya and Vihiga are among the counties which the Auditor General has put on the spot.

“As required in the Constitution, based on the procedures performed, I confirm that public money has not been applied lawfully and in an effective way,” stated the report for the year ended June, 2017.

In Busia County, the department of health and sanitation cannot account fully for Sh44 million for constructing a maternity and new-born unit at Busia County Referral Hospital.

In Homa Bay, payments for works not done, according to the Auditor, include acquisition of assets for road construction totalling Sh479 million. However, physical verification revealed that the works were not done.

Construction and civil works payments totaling to Sh469 million were not supported with documentary evidence in Kisumu while in Migori, the construction of the Kenya Medical Training College phase two was awarded to a local company for Sh21 million but was abandoned after part payment.

In Nyamira, there was delay in two water projects worth Sh657 million. At the time of verification audit in January 2018, both projects had not been completed and were behind schedule by more than 13 months.

Kisii, Siaya and Vihiga counties had similar challenges. Water projects awarded faced difficulties in implementation, resulting in delays and increased costs.