The State Department of Basic Education is under the microscope for the handling of irregular school construction projects that cost Ksh6.6 billion across 30 counties. 

The projects were plagued by delays, shoddy workmanship, and unexplained payments, which has raised grave questions about accountability. 

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu, in the report for the 2023/2024 financial year, revealed that the department violated principal procurement procedures and failed to explain why numerous projects stalled. She added that the officials allowed performance bonds to expire, leaving taxpayers vulnerable to billions of losses.

The projects were meant to improve school infrastructure through the construction of 1,506 classrooms, 863 laboratories, and 1,932 sanitation blocks. However, the report shows glaring implementation gaps.

The ministry contracted 25 contractors on April 26, 2022, according to a project records review. Nonetheless, the majority of projects were faced with issues ranging from unauthorized changes in contract timetables, delayed commencement and completion of projects, to unfinished building sites and shoddy workmanship.

Even after they had appointed a three-person technical committee to vet payments to the 25 contractors, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu observed that the team was not provided with central oversight. She added that neither school representatives nor procurement officers were members of the committee, contravening proper accountability processes.

Gathungu also flagged the lack of crucial documentation to back the committee’s approvals..

“There were no minutes of committee meetings and field inspection reports in support of payments,” her report stated. “The committee instead relied on recommendations of consultants to confirm the scope of works done, contrary to the provision of Regulation 139(3) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020.” The regulation requires that payments only be made after a properly submitted invoice or fee note, aligned with the contract terms.

Gathungu warned that in this case, taxpayers may not have received full value for the Ksh6.6 billion spent on the construction projects. She concluded that the department’s management breached procurement laws and failed to ensure accountability in how public funds were spent.

In line with procurement legislation, payments can only be done after correct invoices or fee notes from the contractors have been dispatched according to the terms of the agreement.

State Department for Basic Education, however, circumvented this provision, raising doubts about whether taxpayers got value for the Ksh6.6 billion expended in the construction contracts.

Gathungu further revealed that the contractors had not commenced work on several projects including 30 classrooms, 40 labs, four water schemes, and 471 sanitation blocks amounting to Ksh573.9 million as of June 30, 2024.

The department did not provide an explanation for the delays. In a glaring violation, officials failed to utilize penalty clauses provided in Clause 47.1 of the Project Conditions of Contract that provide for penalties against delayed works.

Even more critically, the department had not implemented termination provisions in contracts where contractors had abandoned sites for over 28 days without recorded authorization by the project manager.

In a status and progress report dated July 16, 2024, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu raised alarm over questionable payment practices in school infrastructure projects.

Her audit revealed that the government had already paid out Ksh4.8 billion—72% of the total contract value—even though contractors had completed only 77% of the work by the end of the financial year. That means nearly a quarter of the promised work remained unfinished.

The report also flagged issues with advance payments. Although the government had issued Ksh658.6 million in advance, only Ksh475 million had been recovered by the time of the audit.

Even more concerning, five projects across five counties had already been certified as over 90% complete, qualifying them for full advance payment recovery, but Ksh18.3 million remained uncollected.

“The recovery of advance payments amounting to Ksh119,914,993 stood at Ksh101,588,718,resulting in an under-recovery of  Ksh18,326,275,” the report noted.

Gathungu‘s report shows sheer financial irresponsibility and absence of oversight in the handling of public construction funds, and this has accountability and value for money implications for taxpayers.