Members of the National Assembly’s Committee have questioned how money meant for the ongoing construction of the multibillion-shilling Ronald Ngala Utalii College in Vipingo, Kilifi County, was used.
The lawmakers have accused the contractor, Mulji Devraj, of colluding with some officials from the Tourism Fund and the Ministry of Tourism to swindle money through penalties and interest.Tourism Fund officials confirmed that as of June 30, 2020, they had paid Mulji Devraj Sh4 billion of the Sh4.9 billion allocated for the project.
They also said the project consultant, Baseline Architects Ltd, was paid Sh3.2 billion, while lawyers and the environment watchdog Nema were also paid Sh117 million. The committee, led by chairperson Narok North MP Moitalel Ole Kenta, toured the site to establish whether there was prudent use of public funds. They also wanted to find out why the project had not been completed, seven years after it started.
Petition
The lawmakers’ investigation followed a petition by Kilifi North MP Owen Baya to Parliament asking the committee to find out whether there was prudent use of public funds in the project. They noted that there was no value for the taxpayer money spent on the project.
It had been established that the college, which was to cost Sh4.9 billion – the cost having been scaled down from the initial Sh8.9 billion – had lost Sh2.9 billion in interest and penalties. Work on the proposed state-of-the-art, 3,000-capacity College started in April 2013 and was to be completed in 2017. The project was initiated by the Ministry of Tourism under the Tourism Fund. Mr Ole Kenta said more money had been pumped into the project than what was budgeted.
“The project started in 2013 and up to date, it is still not complete. Sh4.9 billion was supposed to be used to construct and complete the project, but the incomplete facility has consumed about Sh8 billion and the work done is only at 60%. Legal action would be taken against anyone who fraudulently received money from the project,” he said.
