Delays, audit queries dog MPs' Sh5b offices

Parliament Office Complex which will house parliamentarians’ offices in Nairobi. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Delays and tussles involving contractors have denied MPs a Sh5.8 billion office block. Parliament Towers – whose construction began in 2014 –  is still work in progress.

Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) entered a contract to build the 28-storey office block to accommodate the 416 members in the Senate and the National Assembly in 2012.

But the slow pace could see the lawmakers end their term on August 9, 2022, without setting foot in the multi-storey office block.

Efforts to get latest progress on the project bore no fruits after PSC chairman and National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi referred The Standard to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. He said the ministry is in charge of the project and better placed to provide the scope of the project.

“Kindly ask the project manager who is the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. They are in a better position to comment and give all technical explanations that you may desire to know,” said the Speaker.

Recently, Parliamentary Joint Services (PJS) Director General Clement Nyandiere said they need six months to complete the project.

Nyandiere told the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee that they have completed interior fittings up to the 24th floor.

He projected that the offices could be ready in May next year. This would be two months to the next General Election and most MPs would be in their constituencies campaigning.

“I can say the earliest you can occupy the block is six months from November 30. I have instructions from the PSC to have the building completed for the current Parliament to occupy even if it is for a day,” Nyandiere told the committee chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi.

Main contractor, Jiang Xi, is opposed to subcontracting of interior fitting works to Nightingale by PSC. The delay has been partly blamed on the tussle between Jiang Xi and Nightingale, one of the subcontractors.

The project was to be concluded in January 2018, but the completion date was revised to August 23, 2020. The delay is also subject of an audit query by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu. In her report for financial year 2019/2020, Ms Gathungu said the project is yet to be completed despite millions of shillings injected into it.

The report faulted PSC for breaking the law in varying the contract sum in 2018. The contract sum was varied by Sh1.5 billion, representing a 27 per cent variation above the 25 per cent limit allowed by Section 139(4) of Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.

“A verification visit to the site revealed slow progress of the interior fit-out sub-contract works. As of January 2020, the work under the interior fit-out sub-contract was below 10 per cent whereas 50 per cent of the extended contract time had lapsed, casting doubt as to whether the project would be completed at the estimated time,” said the Auditor General.

Concerns over the delays were raised as the Auditor General noted PSC did not possess title deeds on which its property stand, including Parliament Building.