Public Investment Committee grills parastatal bosses over irregular sale of State assets

A parliamentary watchdog committee Thursday grilled directors of the Kenya Maritime and Fisheries Research Institute (Kemfri) in Mombasa for hours over irregular sale of some of the parastatal’s assets.

But Kemfri directors informed the Public Investment Committee (PIC) that operations at the institute were above board.

“The institute has over the years maintained a manual assets register that is regularly updated,” Kemfri said in a report prepared to rebut PIC’s concerns and findings of a Government audit agency.

Kemfri officials defended the organisation, claiming its records were sound, but admitted that some of its land had been grabbed by private developers and the matter was under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

Committee concerns

PIC also sought answers on Kemfri’s accounts. The committee’s concerns were based on documents by several Auditor General reports, with MPs saying the State organisation had not updated its accounts for years.

• .

  Keep Reading

• 
  Human rights groups sue State over planned sale of parastatals
• 
  State restarts privatisation drive with sale of hotels
• 
  MPs decry under-funding of critical ministries, state agencies

The members also raised concern over the alleged invasion and grabbing of Kemfri land and property in Kisumu, Mombasa, Mtwapa, Mombasa and Baringo, warning that the company could lose all its assets.

According to a Kemfri report, land in Baringo, Mombasa, Mtwapa and Kisumu had been invaded or grabbed by private developers.

“Chair, I’m a concerned man that if all the land belonging to this institution goes at this rate, it will be no more in 10 years,” said Aldai MP Cornelly Serem.

Nominated MP Oburu Oginga said land owned by the Government was not being protected, thereby giving room for senior officials to grab such assets.

Renson Ruwa, Kemfri’s acting director general, who has been in office for only 10 days, was hard-pressed to explain the sale of land in Kongowea.

PIC chairman Adan Keynan (Eldas) wondered how the land, which in 1991 was worth Sh10 million, could be sold in 2006 for only Sh13 million.

The MPs called for urgent repossession of the land as it had been sold fraudulently.