Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Salim Mvurya’s record as Kwale county Governor is in the spotlight after a section of Kwale County residents claimed that he failed to deliver the county boss during his two five-year tenure terms. The resident through their clan elders claims that Mr Mvurya committed several anomalies as the governor.
Residents revealed to The Weekly Vision how the County Executive led by Mr Mvurya entered into a contract for the construction of the Governor’s official residence in the financial year 2017/2018 at a contract sum of Ksh. 149,216,375 for twelve (12) months but there is nothing much to show, claims that have now been confirmed by a report from the Auditor General.
In her report, the Auditor General reveals how during a project verification in November 2021, the contractor was not on site and the contract sum had been increased by a further Ksh. 34,186,702 to total Ksh. 183,403,077 which had exceeded the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s set ceiling of Ksh.45,000,000 by Ksh. 138,403,077. The report also reveals that there was no signage at the construction site even though it had an allocation of Ksh. 50,000.
Under the same financial year, the County Executive entered into a contract to construct the Kombani Fresh Produce Wholesale Market at a contract sum of Ksh. 105,911,142. A review of records revealed that a total of Ksh. 96,907,640 had been paid to the contractor, save for the retention money. Further, records indicated that the site was handed over to the contractor on 4 April 2019 with the expected contract duration of forty-five (45) weeks ending in March 2020.
However, the contractor did not finish the works by the end of the stipulated period, occasioning an extension of about eleven (11) months. The work remained incomplete prompting the County Engineer to issue a default notice on 13 September 2021 mainly due to slow progress and abandonment of the site. Consequently, the contract was terminated on 2nd November 2021. In these circumstances, the value for money in the implementation of the project was never realized.
In yet another report, the County Executive entered into a contract for the construction of a medium size dam in Kizingo Phase I at a sum of Ksh. 89,628,560. Physical verification conducted on 17th February 2022 indicated that the contractor had been paid an amount of Ksh. 89,500,937.
In addition, the dam, four cattle troughs and one watering point had been constructed. However, two (2) kilometres of the distribution line had been done out of the planned twelve (12) kilometres. Further, the water treatment plant was not working because of leakages and there was no evidence of site handing over. In the circumstances, value for money in the implementation of the project has not been realized.
