Former Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua in a previous occasion// Photo Courtesy.
A month after the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua as Deputy President, the National Assembly has raised alarm over Kshs. 400 million that was meant for renovation of the former DP’s Karen residence, buildings at Harambee Annex and and office of the DP in Mombasa in the previous fiscal year.
The House through its Committee on Administration and Internal Security chaired by Narok West MP, Hon. Gabriel Tongoyo, questioned the Principal Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Deputy President, Mr. Moses Mbaruk on the status of the allocated funds.
“For instance, the refurbishment of the Karen residence is estimated to cost Kshs. 560 million, but you only got Kshs. 250 million for this financial year and you say the project is 45 percent complete. Is that the correct status of the project?” Questioned Hon. Tongoyo.
Mr. Mbaruku, however, clarified that various developmental projects were undertaken during the period under question, including the refurbishment of buildings and offices of the former DP.
Report of the refurbishment projects that are being undertaken within the 5-year period up to June 2027, shows that the Harambee Annex is at 22%, Karen residence at 45% and the former DP’s office in Mombasa at 21% completion.
The committee through its Vice-chairperson Hon. Dido Rasso also questioned why such huge amounts of money are being spent for renovation, claiming that the amounts are enough to construct new buildings.
Responding to the question, Ms. Ann Mwangi, the Director for Planning, affirmed that the refurbishment will go for a period of five years, detailing some of the areas done and which are still pending.
“You realize that the refurbishment of the buildings, both at Harambee Annex and karen residence, as well as Mombasa residence, ran for five years. So when you talk about the estimated value of the project, this is the refurbishment that will go through the five years. And we had quite a number of things that needed to be done. Some have already been done, others have not,” she replied.
“Some other pending works at Harambee Annex include changing of tiles, corridor size, fountain etc,” she added.
The total cost of completing these projects will be Ksh.560 million, which is almost Ksh.100 million more than the amount used to build the residence.
According to reports, for a whooping Kshs. 50 million, the former DP’s Mombasa residence has a state-of-the-art swimming pool, air conditioning system, new ceiling boards, new washrooms and a guest wing.
At the end of the 5-year period, a total of Kshs. 240 million will have been spent.
This alarm has been raised shortly after Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday, while in Murang’a county, hinted on a major political comeback in January next year after announcing that he is in consultations with the church and relevant stakeholders.
“I am in talks with religious leaders and politicians. Come January, I will tell you what we have agreed on. Never again shall we find ourselves in the hole we are in,” declared Gachagua.
