National government projects across the country estimated at Sh366 billion have stalled, according to a report presented to the National Assembly by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.
The report tabled in the House yesterday by Majority Leader Aden Duale, is a consolidated submission from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on the status of projects being implemented.
This comes after the parliament on November 15, 2018 and Treasury’s circular of August 31, 2018 requested for details of stalled capital projects for submission to the House.
Members of the National Assembly were informed by worries that huge sums of money are being sunk into projects that are either delayed in implementation or are never completed.
According to the report, Sh72.5 billion has been spent, with Sh293.4 billion outstanding costs, even as the National Treasury requested the Parliament to give direction on the way forward.
The government had launched at least 545 projects with the sole purpose of creating jobs for the youth as well as improving the economy.
The most affected projects are dams for irrigation, roads, learning institutions, crop research and construction of courts, among others.
With yesterday’s revelation, the country fear that the government’s development objective may not be realised due to its spending on pointless projects.
Another concern is the possibility of lawsuits over breach of contract due to delayed completion arising from failure to release funds on time and extension of deadlines, among others.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich further revealed that majority of the projects have stalled due to realignment of the budget to fund the Big Four Agenda and devolution.
Other reasons for the projects’ stalling are budget rationalisation, lack of funds, budgetary constraints and low budget ceiling due to allocation to finance pending bills.
Rotich also cited that delays of the project completion are as a result of ; delayed payment to contractors and corruption.
The CS now calls for the state to prioritize spending on viable project.