New audit reveals how KICC chiefs mismanaged Sh30m on luxury hotels
A new audit has shed light on glaring financial mismanagement at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), with directors spending Sh30 million on luxury hotel meetings
A new audit has shed light on glaring financial mismanagement at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), with directors spending Sh30 million on luxury hotel meetings that should’ve been held in-house.
The report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu for the financial year ending June 30, 2024, found that KICC’s top brass spent Sh30.9 million on directors’ emoluments.
It emerged that nine out of 13 board meetings were held in high-end hotels in a blatant violation of the Mwongozo Code of Regulations for state corporations.
The code, which guides state agencies’ operations, mandates such meetings to be conducted on official premises unless exceptional circumstances arise.
The audit found no justification for the nine hotel-hosted meetings. “In the circumstances, the management was in breach of the law,” Gathungu said in her qualified opinion on the entity’s finances for the period under review.
The luxury expenditure stands in stark contrast to the institution’s failure to address critical financial discrepancies flagged by the Auditor-General in the previous financial years.
The report has further revealed that KICC has no title deeds for the parcels of land valued at Sh2.3 billion, including where the Centre Tower block stands, in its name.
“The title deed for the property is not registered in KICC’s name, despite its value being included in the financial statements,” Gathungu said.
The review further established that two other parcels have no title deeds. These are Comesa Grounds, which is used for parking, and Garden Square, which was leased to a restaurant.
“To date, the centre has not secured the title deeds for the three parcels of land,” the auditor reports, saying the balance of Sh2.3 billion is in doubt.
This is despite the Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, chaired by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, directing the registration of the parcels in KICC’s name.
Lands CS Alice Wahome earlier told the House team that the land was secure and that there were no records pointing to any attempts to subdivide the parcels.
But the auditor says the parcels remain exposed in the face of the same not being registered in the name of the state corporation.
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Also flagged are Sh1.4 billion in payments to the Ministry of Defence for renovations for lack of supporting certificates, raising accountability concerns.
“The payments were not supported by interim or certificates for payments by engineers from the Ministry of Defence,” the audit reads.
“The accuracy of the Sh1.4 billion balance could not be confirmed.”
Gathungu has also flagged Sh188 million in stale debts after the same remained uncollected for more than two years, with no recovery strategy in place.
“The management has not provided any recoverability strategy in place to recover the outstanding amounts,” the report reads.
Gathungu termed the financial statements “qualified”, citing material misstatements that undermine transparency.
KICC has been further called out for failing to meet the requisite number of representatives of persons living with disability in its staff establishment.
The centre had, as of June 30, 2024, only three employees under the PWDs cateogry, which translated to only three per cent of the employee population, contrary to the law providing for five per cent.
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