Auditor queries Homa Bay over pay for incomplete work

The Auditor-General has queried Homa Bay County for paying contractors who did not complete their work.

In a report, the auditor points to incidents where county officials may have used projects to divert money and indicated in records that it was paid out to contractors.

The construction of a 33-kilometre Kadongo-Gendia road is an example of a stalled project that has raised audit queries after it emerged that three firms were paid without completing work.
The 2016/2017 Auditor-General's report revealed that three construction companies were paid a total of Sh302,843,516 before completing the work.
The firms include Bridgestone Construction Company, Nairobi Logistics and Pepeta Holdings Limited.

Homa Bay government awarded three firms the tender to construct the road to bitumen standards in 2015 at a combined cost of Sh687,270,372.

Replaced contractors

On Wednesday, Homa Bay County Finance Executive Nicholas Koriko defended the county government saying some contractors whose works were in question were withdrawn and replaced with others.

“Some of the projects in question at the time of the audit have now been completed, including the hospital that is now open to the public.

"The construction work at the heath facility was awarded to another person who could do the job better. The stadium on the other hand is constructed in phases. The first phase is currently ongoing,” he said.

The executive added that payments can only be made after work has been completed.

Mr Koriko refuted claims on the audit report that payment of some projects were made before the work was done.

“The law is clear that work can only be paid after being certified. Our officers had to make sure that the construction of the said projects were complete before authorising any payment,” he said.

12-month period

The contract period was 12 months between October 2015 and October 2016 and each firm was expected to work on 11km.

However, by June 30, 2017 the report indicates that the amount had been paid for stalled work.

The payments are Bridgestone (Sh78 million), Nairobi Logistics (Sh117.65 million ) and Pepeta Holdings Ltd (Sh107.19 million).
“At the time of physical verification, the road had not been done to the expected standards as some sections had cracks and peeled off before the works were completed,” the audit reads.
“The Pepeta Limited had not tarmacked even three kilometres of its section,” continues the report.

The county government allocated a total of Sh687,270,373 for the road construction.

But the Auditor-General expresses fears that the public may not obtain value for money invested in the projects.

At the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital, the audit revealed that in 2014/2015 financial year, contractor M/S Nyobu Enterprises was awarded tender to renovate the hospital at a cost of Sh111 million.
According to the project implementation status report, the amount certified and paid to the contractor amounted to Sh17.886 million, of which Sh5 million was paid to the contractor in the 2016-2017 financial year.
“The surprise was that the contractor was not on site at the time of audit verification and had only completed the car park while construction of the gate, estimated to cost Sh1.5 million had stalled,” the report revealed.

Stadium face-lift

Another misappropriation of funds is revealed in the fencing and face-lifting of Homa Bay County Stadium.
On June 20,2016, Homa Bay government awarded Manjano Enterprises Limited a tender for construction of a perimeter wall fencing and related works for the stadium at a cost of Sh28.228 million.
The firm was paid a total of Sh5.586 million but failed to complete the work. According to the report, the project had stalled by January 4, 2018.
“The contractor had erected columns (pillars) covering half of the stadium perimeter only but thereafter abandoned the site,” the report said.