Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti grilled over Sh30m office repairs

Homa Bay County Governor Mr Cyprian Awiti. He appeared before the Senate’s Committee on County Public Accounts on July 14, 2015. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The governor was asked to why the tender for the renovation work of his office was restricted.
  • West-Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo wondered why the county was in a rush to spend money.

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti was Tuesday put to task to explain why he used over Sh30 million to renovate his office a few days after being sworn in.

The governor was asked to explain why two allocations were made for the refurbishment of his office.

Mr Awiti faced the Senate’s Committee on County Public Accounts chaired by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale on Tuesday at Parliament Buildings.

The senators also queried the restricted tendering process for the governor's office renovations.

According to the Auditor-General, the Homa Bay county government spent Sh11.8 million for the “renovation of the governors’ office” through a tender given through restrictive process.

The county government spent another Sh19 million for the “alteration and extension of the governor’s office.”

The governor was also questioned on why he bought furniture worth Sh13 million for the county executives two months after taking over office.

The governor was accompanied by the County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe and Chief Finance Officer Evans Abeka.

DISCREPANCY

In his defence, Mr Awiti said he was forced to sanction restrictive tenders because he did not have time to do an open tender.

“The time was very short for us to do an open tender. We had many chief officers who were coming into office and we required to furnish their offices as fast as possible. An open tender requires about two months to complete that is why we opted for a restrictive one,” said Mr Awiti.

The senators however, were not satisfied with the explanation and demanded evidence to show the bids for the jobs.

“Restrictive tendering should be sparingly applied…the documents we have appear to have been doctored. The receipts we have differ. The governor should explain the discrepancy in the documents given us,” said Dr Khalwale.

The lawmakers said restrictive tendering can be easily abused and requires an authorising letter from Public Procurement Oversight Authority.

West-Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo wondered why the county was in a rush to spend money.

Why was there a rush to use the money? Even if it was towards the end of the financial year, there was no need to rush because the unused money could still have been rolled into the following year,” said Prof Lonyangapuo.