Bomet on the spot over mismanagement of 373 million shillings road equipment

Bomet County has spent Sh373 million on heavy equipment for road construction last year but has seen little return, which has caused a lot of commotion.

Questions have been raised about whether residents got value for the millions of tax dollars used to purchase the 12 road construction machines and trucks in the middle of last year.

It has also emerged that a whistleblower wrote to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Budget Controller, the Accountant General, the Senate, members of the National Assembly, the District Assembly and other relevant government institutions to investigate the purchase of the equipment.

In a letter dated May 16, 2024, which is a follow-up to a letter dated June 2, 2023, the whistleblower had asked the institutions to determine whether there was public participation before the huge amounts of taxpayers’ money were committed.

“The machines were purchased but they were not included in the County Integrated Development Plans 2018-2022 and were also not included in the Annual Development Plan 2022-2023, which is a legal requirement,” the whistleblower alleged.

He also wants the institutions, in the spirit of transparency and accountability, to “establish how much money has been allocated, what the real cost of the equipment is and who won the tender”

“I invite your offices to determine whether the purchase was in the work plan, whether the budget approvals… whether there was public participation, whether the budgetary processes were followed and whether the legal requirements were complied with”

Despite budgeting Sh40 million for fuel supply of the equipment in the 2023-2024 financial year, only eight out of 25 wards in five sub-counties – Bomet East, Bomet Central, Chepalungu, Sotik and Ndanai – have seen some roads improved.

The issue threatens to cost the job of Erick Kipkoech Ngetich, member of the County Executive Committee (CEC) for Roads, Public Works and Transport, after an impeachment motion was tabled in the assembly.

Mr Ngetich is one of two other CECs – Andrew Sigei (Finance and Economic Planning) and Dr Joseph Kirui (Administration, Public Service and Special Programmes) – who have been charged with alleged misconduct, failure to disclose facts and breaching the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act in an impeachment motion in the assembly.

The motion will be discussed next week.

Mr Peter Mutai, District Member of Sigor District Council, while tabling the motion last week, said Mr Ngetich had failed to implement projects approved in the district budget, which is contrary to the principles of financial management as enshrined in the Public Finance Management Act of 2012.

“Despite the county spending over Sh300 million on the purchase of heavy equipment (for road construction), only eight out of 25 wards have utilised the funds despite arrangements and adequate fuel supply of Sh40 million. This is unacceptable,” Mr Mutai said.

According to him, most of the heavy equipment has been grounded for a long time, which shows a lack of proper management and use. This is contrary to the principles of public service as enshrined in Section 10(b) of the Leadership and Integrity Act of 2012.

The MCAs have also raised issues over the ownership of the equipment, with the CEC failing to produce logbooks to show that the equipment is fully paid for and owned by the province.

Governor Hillary Barchok unveiled the equipment in September 2023 during a function attended by Kericho Governor Erick Mutai, Emurrua Dikir MP Johana Ngeno and his counterpart Victor Koech of Chepalungu and Bomet MCAs at the Bomet Green Stadium.

“We will use the machines to build rural roads more cheaply than by bidding out contracts, and ensure that people have good infrastructure facilities to stimulate economic growth,” Professor Barchok said at the time.

Mr Ngetich is alleged to have neglected the maintenance of the county’s vehicles, leading to deterioration and inefficiency in service delivery, which is contrary to the principles of public service delivery under the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012, Section 11(a), which prescribes effective management of public resources.

“The CEC (Mr Ngetich) has failed to explain how he used Sh195 million for provincial trunk roads and Sh78 million for intersecting roads (connecting two districts) in the 2023-2024 budget year. Given that there are no projects worth the amount, one can only conclude that the amount has been embezzled…” Mr Mutai said.

“This reflects incompetent leadership and a failure to effectively manage and distribute the province’s resources as the machinery was meant to serve all wards equally and benefit the entire province.”

Mr Ngetich was accused of “failing to provide detailed expenditure reports when requested three times by the County Assembly Committee on Roads, Transport and Public Works. This lack of transparency and accountability violates the principle of good governance and oversight…”

“He has failed to address the growing number of unexplained pending bills, which have continued to mount under his tenure, reflecting gross incompetence and mismanagement of the province’s resources.”

Mr Ngetich said in a recent interview that the heavy rains and floods the country experienced early this year had affected the implementation of road projects in the provinces.

But now that the rains have stopped, the roads in the city neighborhoods still need to be renovated, and the public is concerned about the location of the machines.