NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 10 – The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education has ordered fresh investigations into the construction of a Sh844 million student hostel at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) following concerns over contract variations, unexplained payments and an ongoing court dispute involving the contractor.

📻 Breaking It Down

The committee raised questions after the Auditor-General flagged missing documentation supporting contract variations worth Sh180.1 million and noted that completion and handover certificates for the project could not be produced during the audit despite the facility already housing students.

The 1,000-bed hostel project was awarded to Sasah General Merchants in February 2010 at an initial contract sum of Sh663.9 million and was expected to be completed within three years. However, certified payments later rose to Sh844.1 million, prompting lawmakers to scrutinise the additional expenditure.

Lawmakers, led by committee chairperson and Luanda MP Dick Maungu, directed former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Stephen Gaya Agong to appear physically before the committee alongside consultants, auditors and other project officials to explain what MPs termed as significant inconsistencies in the project’s financial records.

📌 What You Need to Know

The committee also expressed concern over a pending lawsuit filed by the contractor against the university seeking payment of alleged outstanding dues, warning that the dispute could expose taxpayers to additional legal costs and penalties.

Officials from the Office of the Auditor-General told MPs that public institutions risk incurring avoidable losses when contractual disputes escalate into court battles.

Appearing before the committee, Prof. Agong maintained that during his tenure the university had paid approximately Sh600 million towards the project and insisted that the final payment certificate reflected only Sh4.8 million in outstanding obligations.

However, committee members pointed to documents showing that a payment certificate prepared days before his departure from office in June 2023 reflected cumulative certified payments of approximately Sh844 million.

MPs further questioned a series of contract adjustments and additional costs attached to the project, including millions of shillings classified as variations and another Sh79.6 million recorded as fluctuations.

Committee chairperson Dick Maungu said lawmakers were struggling to establish the legal and procurement basis for the additional payments, particularly given statutory limits governing contract variations under public procurement laws.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya