Stalled projects worth more than Sh12.03 billion in 10 counties has exposed the sorry state of development in the devolved units.
Reports by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu have revealed the projects have stalled, been abandoned, fallen behind schedule or left idle after completion.
They include the construction of roads, Early Childhood Education Centres (ECDE) classrooms, governors' and deputy governors’ residences, hospitals and stadiums.
The counties are Nairobi, Kiambu, Baringo, Nakuru, Turkana, West Pokot, Tana River, Kitui, Nyamira and Trans Nzoia.
The revelations in the audit reports for the financial year ended June 30, 2023, put governors, who campaigned for development, on the spot.
According to the reports, the projects have stalled or delayed due to non-payment, use of contractors lacking capacity, tender wars and court injunctions due to procurement irregularities.
The problem has been worsened by delayed release of funds to the counties, under-collection of own source revenue as well as procurement for projects without a budget.
Some counties are also spending huge sums of their revenues on staff emolument and other recurrent expenses, leaving meagre resources for development.
Section 15 (2)(a)(b) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 states a minimum of 30 per cent of the national and county governments’ budget shall be allocated to the development.
In Governor Johnson Sakaja’s Nairobi, hospital projects worth Sh1.36 billion initiated by the county government have stalled.
“Review of construction projects undertaken by the County Executive of Nairobi City revealed projects costing Sh1.36 billion in respect of construction of various hospitals had stalled,” the report states.
The projects included the construction and equipping of Pumwani Lucky Summer Dispensary, construction and equipping of Pumwani Majengo Health Centre and construction and equipping of Gumba/Mabatini Dispensary.
“Field inspection on these projects carried out on September 28 and 29, 2023 revealed they were not complete and labelled, the perimeter wall was not done for Pumwani Majengo Health Center, and the Lucky Summer Dispensary barely started and the building is dilapidated,” the report states.
In Kiambu, projects worth more than Sh1.23 billion started by Governor Kimani Wamatangi’s administration have either stalled or missed their completion date.
Among the projects that have stalled or delayed completion are construction of a four-storey hospital block at Bibirioni Level 4 Hospital costing Sh285.99 million.
Others are the construction of a three-storey medical ward block at Tigoni Subdistrict Hospital at a cost of Sh160.74 million and four-storey medical ward block at Lari Subdistrict Hospital costing Sh191.80 million.
Also delayed or stalled are construction of a four-storey Type II medical ward at Wangige Health Centre at a contract price of Sh220.28 million and Ruiru Level 4 Hospital Central Commodity Stores for Sh41.97 million.
“The contractor had not been on site since March 2023 and no reason was given as to why he had abandoned the site,” the report states of the Wangige Health Centre.
Others are construction of the subcounty office block at Juja Subcounty Market shed at Kiganjo and Gitaru markets and construction of the fire station at Limuru.
In Governor Benjamin Cheboi’s Baringo, projects worth Sh517.47 million have either stalled or have been completed but are not in use.
“There is a risk the residents of Baringo county may not receive value for money from the investment in the stalled and idle projects,” the report states.
Projects valued at a minimum of Sh1.47 billion have stalled or been delayed in Governor Susan Kihika’s Nakuru county.
They include delayed construction of county treasury headquarters at a cost of Sh886.63 million as well as an office block in Milimani at a contract sum of Sh288.57 million.
In Turkana, the auditor flagged the delayed completion of Sh397.41 million county headquarters buildings.
The auditor also flagged delayed completion of the governor’s residence costing more than Sh211 million.
The county government is headed by Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai.
“In the circumstances, it was not possible to ascertain the validity and value for money of the procurement and expenditure on the construction of the governor’s residence,” the report states.
Also delayed or stalled are the construction of Kalokol Resource Centre costing Sh25.10 million and construction of a plastic re-use facility for Sh13.62 million.
“In the circumstances, the residents of Turkana county have not received value for money on incomplete and stalled projects,” the report reads.
In West Pokot, the government headed by Governor Simon Kachapin approved a budget of Sh1.81 billion to implement 798 projects.
However, analysis of the project implementation status report revealed that 24 projects with a budget of Sh61.47 million were not started.
“The underperformance in project implementation affected the planned activities and may have impacted negatively on service delivery to the citizens,” Gathungu stated in the report.
In Tana River, 58 projects valued at Sh825.85 million started in 2015-16 stalled at various stages and were abandoned.
The report states that the Governor Godhana Dhadho-led government did not provide auditors with the reasons for the failure to complete these projects.
In Kitui, projects worth Sh1 billion initiated by Governor Julius Malombe’s government have stalled.
They include the construction of a sump well and pump house at Nzeeu River and rehabilitation of the Mukameni pipeline awarded at a contract sum of Sh11.04 million.
Health projects worth Sh573.55 million and construction of Kithomboani market in Kitui town at a contract sum of Sh351.58 million have also stalled.
The county government also contracted a firm to construct the LIUD headquarters at a contract sum of Sh64.88 million. The project has stalled.
“In the circumstances, the residents of Kitui county have been denied benefits that would accrue from the completed projects and value for money invested had not been realised,” the report states.
In Nyamira, projects worth Sh673.7 million have stalled and others abandoned. The county is led by Governor Amos Nyaribo.
The projects include the construction of twin Houses at Motagara Health Centre at a cost of Sh99.96 million, which has been abandoned, and the construction of Sh382.97 million county headquarters, which has stalled.
Others are stalled construction of Nyabite Retail Market, delayed completion of road upgrade and delayed completion of construction of the in-patient Block at Manga Subcounty Hospital.
“In the circumstance, the county may not obtain value for money and the expected benefits from the projects to the residents of Nyamira county may not be realised,” the report says.
The situation is the same in Governor George Natembeya’s Trans Nzoia where projects valued at Sh2.5 billion have either stalled or fallen behind schedule.
They include the construction of Sh1.60 billion Trans Nzoia Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The construction was to be implemented in two phases, with an estimated completion period of Phase 1 in 52 weeks and Phase 2 in 62 weeks.
The 350-bed facility was aimed at providing specialised medical services.
As at July 2023, 141 weeks after the lapse of the proposed completion date, the project was still incomplete with Sh1.57 billion or 98 per cent of the contract sum paid.
“In the circumstances, the completion of this project is doubtful despite large amounts of public resources invested from which no value is being derived,” the report states.