Auditor General raises red flag over stalled Interior ministry jobs

Auditor-General is raising concerns over eight projects that have gobbled KSh833.65 million in the Ministry of Interior but have stalled.
The report of Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu regretted that the completion rate of the projects ranges between 41% to 80%.
The projects with a duration rate of either two or three years are worth KSh1.156 billion.
“Physical verification of works and review of project documents revealed that the State
The department had eight stalled development projects at various levels of completion and payment,”reads the report.
It adds: “In the circumstances, the State Department did not obtain value for money from the stalled projects.”
The stalled projects include Proposed completion of Migori District Headquarters (Phase I) which commenced in July 2009 at a cost of KSh701.5 million and has gobbled up KSh539 million, the construction of the Tinderet Sub County Headquarters at a cost of KSh 49 million and so far consumed KSh 30 million, the construction of Nandi South Sub County Headquarters at a cost of KSh 48.5 million and so far consumed KSh 30 million as well as well as the construction of Bunyala DCC’s Office a television set cost KSh 47 million yet KSh 30 million has been spent.
The others are the construction of Tigania East DCC’s Office at a cost of KSh75.59 million yet KSh73.1 million has spent on it, construction of Igembe North DCC’s office at KSh28.2 million yet KSh25.4 million has been spent, the construction of Magunga district headquarters at a cost of KSh8.5 million that has so far consumed KSh3.58 million has been consumed and the proposed construction of 100 Persons Hostel Block for KSAL at a cost of KSh 198.1 million yet KSh 102.4 million has been consumed.
The report further says details of the land on which Harambee House Building that hosts the office of the President and Nyayo House that host top government offices such as passport acquisition cannot be traced in the land register of the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration, a new report shows.
The report regretted that the land register provided for audit was incomplete and most of the required information in the register were blank.
The move comes as a shocker owing to the significant roles the two buildings hold in the country.
Reads the report: “In addition, the land register provided for audit was incomplete and most of the required information in the register were blank. Further, parcels of land on which Nyayo House and Harambee House buildings stand could not be traced in the register.”
Harambee House in Nairobi houses Sheria House, Office of the President, the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, the Ministry of Public Service and Human Capital Development, and the Office of the Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service.
On the other hand Nyayo House which is a skyscraper building hosts several government departments such as immigration (the State Department for Immigration, Border Control, and Regulation of Persons) and also serves as the headquarters of Nairobi Province.
The building located at the corner of Uhuru Highway and Kenyatta Avenue is 84 metres high and has 27 floors and is particularly known for its detention facilities in its basement, often called as “Nyayo House torture chambers.”
In the report, Gathungu has also fingered the department for lack of Land ownership documents for 4,151 parcels it owns in various parts of the country.
The report says that although the management indicated that it was in the process of acquiring the ownership documents, no evidence was provided on the progress made and title deeds for the parcels of land were not provided for audit.
Further, it raised concerns that some parcels of land owned and developed by the State Department lacked proper survey plans, making it difficult to accurately determine and demarcate their boundaries.
Reads the report: “In the circumstances, the existence of an effective control system to safeguard the State Department’s land could not be confirmed.