The Public Accounts Committee has raised concerns over what they call the exorbitant cost of drilling boreholes in the country.
As such the parliamentary watchdog committee appealed to the Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation Department to review the amount of money spent on the construction of the water projects.
According to the committee chairperson John Mbadi, the Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation Department has been constructing projects worth billions of shillings, yet most parts of the country still face water shortage problems.
“Reports that have been tabled before the Committee revealed that billions of shillings have been allocated to construct boreholes which end up stalling after consuming a lot of taxpayers’ money,” Mbadi stated while speaking during a meeting with Water and Sanitation PS Kipronoh Ronoh.
Moreover, Mbadi stated that the department’s purpose of providing water to citizens, especially in the rural areas, ends up unachieved because of the stalled projects.
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Likewise, Mbadi told PS Kiprono who had appeared before the House team to respond to audit queries to ensure that the costs of constructing boreholes are lowered.
The PS in response stated that the department has begun the process of reviewing the costs for the water projects, something he said would make sure they construct more projects countrywide.
In addition, the PS reported that he had set up a team that was investigating expenditure on projects in various parts of the country to manage cases of financial fraud.
“The department has cut down on budgets for water projects so that we can put the money for water projects we are initiating under the Maji Nyumbani projects,” Rono said.
The projects are meant to ensure as many Kenyans as possible access clean and piped water.
Nevertheless, the parliamentary committee questioned why the more than Sh1 billion Sagana River restoration project has not been completed within the period given to the contractor.
In response, the committee was told that the water and sanitation department had given an advance payment of Sh325 million to the contractor.
