Nairobi — The National Assembly's Committee on Public Petition heard the defenses from the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Statehouse Comptroller regarding the petition on funds spent contrary to Article 223 of the Constitution.
During the hearing, Joseph Mbugua, the Permanent Secretary of Roads and Transport, defended the Ministry against allegations of unauthorized expenditure of Sh9.45 billion.
The disbursement is part of the Sh55 billion that is currently under investigation by the National Assembly's Committee on Public Petitions concerning its utilization by the previous administration.
The Assembly's committee on public petitions is chaired by Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai.
The investigation follows a petition by Stephen Mutoro, the Secretary General of the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK), who alleges that towards the end of the term of the Jubilee administration, Sh55 billion was spent without the approval of the National Assembly, contrary to Article 223 of the constitution.
"We only followed and implemented the recommendations from the National Security Council to upgrade the Lamu-Ijara road, dualling of the Nairobi Eastern Bypass and the construction of Makupa causeway," PS Mbugua said after appearing before the committee.
The Committee members raised concerns about the rationale behind utilizing Article 223 funds for a road project, especially when considering the time period and whether it represented value for money.
Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi also appeared before the Committee to address the Ministry's receipt of funds for the Unga subsidy, which was meant to cushion the cost of living in the country.
However, the full amount of the subsidy was not received by the millers.
He admitted that the ministry had spent funds that were not approved by Parliament.
"We are guilty as charged. To date, this expenditure hasn't been regulated, the value for money for this expenditure doesnt add up. Irregardless of the story we can give, what remains is that the conditions of Article 223 were not considered," said the CS.
Consequently, members questioned where the money might have disappeared if beneficiaries didn't receive the funds and whether the Ministry of Agriculture was consulted by Treasury.
"There was no meeting, The Ministry never took part in the decision done by Treasury."
During his address to the Committee, CS Linturi implored the government to provide adequate support to alleviate the high cost of living.
He told the committee that necessary measures, such as bringing in organic fertilizer from Tanzania, would help increase yields.
Linturi requested that the members be his ambassadors to the people to not only plant for commercialization but also for personal consumption.
On his part, Statehouse Comptroller Katoo Ole Mitito was called upon to provide an account of the Sh3.7 billion that the Statehouse received from the Article 223 fund during the Committee's hearing.
He disclosed that out of the Sh3.7 billion, Sh810 million was allocated for a confidential expenditure, while Sh2.96 billion was earmarked to settle the Nairobi Metropolitan Services' (NMS) pending bills.
Nonetheless, only Sh411 million was disbursed to the respective contractors.
Mitito clarified to the Committee that the Statehouse was left with NMS's liabilities since they were related to infrastructure projects.
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However, Marwa raised doubts about the legality of disbursing the outstanding Sh2.5 billion, which Statehouse has yet to receive from the Exchequer, especially considering that it was approved by the Treasury without Parliament's approval.
This raises the fundamental question of whether the remaining funds ought to be released to the statehouse.
"If you didnt spend under 223, why are we still waiting to spend under 223?" posed Marwa.
In response, Mitito acknowledged the suspicious timeline and urged the Committee to scrutinize the Article 223 funds' disbursement criteria to prevent similar anomalies from occurring in the future.
The Committee reassured all stakeholders that a thorough investigation would be conducted and any wrongdoing uncovered would be exposed.
