House team calls for suspension of Sh14b irrigation project

The National Assembly’s Committee on Agriculture has demanded the suspension of the Sh14 billion project to set up a model farm on the Galana-Kulalu farm until it is satisfied the procurement was done correctly.

Members of the committee said they had reached the decision after preliminary investigations established that the firm awarded the contract and the consultant who studied the project are owned by the same firm.

“We have suspended this contract with immediate effect until we’re satisfied that due diligence was followed,” said committee chairman Adan Mohammed Nooru at a press conference at Parliament.

The committee’s decision could delay the implementation of the project by the government to establish the 10,000-acre farm, which would test the irrigation model for the rest of the million-acre Galana and Kulalu ranches.

The contract was awarded to Green Arava, an Israeli firm that is reported to be the parent company of Agri-Green Consultants, the experts who undertook the study at a cost Sh920 million.

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Mr Nooru said the committee would need proof from the Agriculture ministry that the contract was properly procured.

“There was no contract advertised, no due diligence… It was not even single sourcing,” he said, with members of the committee flanking him.

The project was allocated Sh3.5 billion, but the committee is concerned that the the contract was awarded and signed on the basis that the Israeli government would provide the rest of the money, Sh11 billion, but there was no evidence of an agreement between the Kenyan and Israeli governments.

Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja, ODM) said it was “quite clear that the matter is a scandal of monumental proportions”.

“The gist of the matter is that this award has been done in a very obscure manner. We have used our oversight authority to nullify this contract,” said Mr Wandayi.

Mr Nooru said the responsibility would stop with Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Felix Koskei, with the National Irrigation Board being the technical arm of the ministry in that respect.

“We have asked the technical team to give us the contract documents and summoned the CS to explain,” he added.