Former Interior Cabinet Secretary, Dr Fred Mariang’i has been summoned by the Members Of the Kenyan parliament to answer about the decision he made five years ago.
The Committee chairman, Mr. Moses Kirima says that the former minister needs to shed light in events that led to the closure of a Kenyatta University in Kigali Rwanda without consulting shareholders. This he said must be addressed for accountability and prevent future occurrences.
The Committee also required the former Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Olive Mugenda and the accounting officer during the university establishment to narrate the expenses surrounding the purchase and renovation of the campus to the tune of Ksh 314 Million and Ksh 54 Million respectively
In a statement, the Chairman said “The Public Investments Committee stresses the importance of transparency, accountability, and due diligence in all financial matters related to public institutions. The findings and recommendations of this report are crucial for ensuring proper governance, preventing financial mismanagement, and upholding public trust.”
This comes after the committee visited the Kenyatta University in Rwanda after an audit querry was raised by the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu stating that the campus was closed even after spending 420 million on it thus raising suspicion on the poor management of funds.
The statement read “The university had initially intended to purchase a ready-to-use property. Consequently, the expenditure of Ksh54,073,302.81 for renovations and partitioning was not justified. This indicated a mismanagement of funds and a lack of adherence to the original purchase plan”
The MPs also raised concerns of lack of a proper bidding process could have led to inflation of the property price for personal benefits. This means the property was acquired through single sourcing, a process discouraged in government business
The Committee further added “The inspection revealed poor workmanship in the renovations, evidenced by issues such as tiles wearing out prematurely. This substandard quality indicated a lack of oversight and value for the amount spent on renovations”
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