State agency with no staff, offices, but board members earn allowances

MPs are now questioning the relevance of the pioneer fish marketing agency after it emerged that the body has been operating without staff, budget and offices.

Kenya Fish Marketing Authority, MPs were told, has been unable to discharge its mandate over the eight years of its existence even as Board members continue to draw allowances.

Interestingly, the agency has 13 board members, whose perks in the last financial year amounted to Sh10 million - out of the Sh51 million allocation.

According to KFMA chairman Martin Ogindo, the board members are still owed in allowances.

He did not however disclose the amount owed. 

"We spent Sh10 million on board matters. We still have unpaid allowances," Ogindo told members of the Blue Economy and Irrigation Committee.

The session was chaired by Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama, who doubles as the vice chairperson.

The committee on Tuesday heard that one board member resigned leaving 12, who are running the authority from a hazardous building in Nairobi. 

Ogindo, who has already served for one and half years, raised fears that his term is almost up and he might not be able to account for his tenure.

The former Rangwe MP wrote to the committee to walk it through the challenges that have frustrated the operationalisation of the agency.

“My time is running out as chairman and I need to make an account for the three years. We have a full board and acting CEO, we do not have substantive staff, we are operating from a condemned building at Museum Hill that was being used by the Fisheries department,” Ogindo said. 

The authority, which was to oversee marketing of fish nationwide, had its budget reduced by over 99 per cent.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the authority received Sh51 million from the Exchequer.

This was, however, reduced to a paltry Sh4.89 million in the current financial year, against a requirement of Sh546 million.

Ogindo told the committee he has tried, in vain, to get an audience with the Principal Secretary with a view of addressing the budget cut.

“On March 11, 2024, I did a letter to the Cabinet Secretary for appointment so that the board could meet the CS. I don’t want to accuse anybody but up to now that letter has not been responded to,” he said. 

Unable to hire staff of its own, the agency has been relying on seconded staff as well as interns to run its day-to-day activities.

The authority is supposed to have a staff establishment of 60 employees.

MPs questioned why the authority was created in the first place.

Kasipul MP Ong’ondo Were wondered about the entity's sustainability, saying the government should wind up agencies that are not adding value to the Kenyan people, Were said. 

“It is interesting that the number of board members outnumber the staff,” he said.

Tiaty MP William Kamket posed, “Was it necessary to establish it or was it established to die?” 

The authority is a corporate body established under the Fisheries Management and Development Act, 2016 to market fish and fishery products from Kenya.

Prior to this, there was no government institution specifically charged with the responsibility of promoting the commodities.  

Ogindo was appointed by President William Ruto to chair the board. 

Documents tabled by the agency before the committee show the country earns Sh5 billion annually from foreign exchange and employs 500,000 people directly.

“The Fishing industry in Kenya however has the potential to fetch up to Sh100 billion in terms of earnings,” Ogindo said.

“According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Kenya’s aquaculture potential stands at 1.14 million hectares of farming area with capacity to produce 11 million tonnes of fish worth well over 750 billion Kenyan shillings (about $7.3 billion) per annum.”

Committee chairman David Kangogo said they will invite Blue Economy CS Hassan Joho and his Principal Secretary to appear before them to explain the operationalisation of the agency.