The Committee on Implementation in the National Assembly on Thursday held a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Ms Peninah Malonza, to deliberate on the pending implementation of a house special report on the Ronald Ngala Utalii College Project in Kilifi County, Kenya’s coast.
The committee has undertaken to ensure the implementation of recommendations made by its predecessor in the 12th Parliament, following a report by the Public Accounts Committee of the 11th Parliament that highlighted various issues of concern with the project.
The two major issues of concern to the committee are high-accumulated interest paid to contractors and consultants for the project and delayed implementation of the project, which has so far seen the Ministry spend more than Ksh 9.9 Billion since its inception eight years ago.
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Appearing before the committee, the CS, accompanied by the PS Tourism John Ololtuaa and the Tourism Fund Acting CEO David Mwangi, was tasked to explain the glaring issues surrounding the controversial project, which the MPs have termed as a white elephant.
“It looks like we are just pouring money into a black hole and there is not the way we are going to come out of it,” said MP Mark Mwenje.
Citing institutional failure within the tourism board, and a questionable existing active file by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on the matter, the committee is concerned that the is a matter spanning from the 11th Parliament to the 13th, and yet, the issues raised do not seem to get solved.
“We need to get very clear answers to these questions before we progress, and I think we are not there yet, this is a matter at the heart of Kenyans and needs to be addressed adequately,” said the session’s chair Hon Kosgei.
“There are so many issues that the Ministry and the Fund are not addressing to our satisfaction despite having all the time to come up with proper answers,” added Kosgei.
In her submission, the Cabinet Secretary promised to put together adequate information that the committee needs to understand the glaring issues around the project, which she acknowledged that the EACC has reportedly been investigating for about ten years without giving any concrete results.
The committee resolved to adjourn and allow the CS, Tourism Fund, and the Contractors to again appear before it together and give comprehensive answers to the matters raised.
The Ronald Ngala Utalii College project is a Kenya Vision 2030 Flagship project.
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