Posted on July, 4, 2019 at 10:23 am
By SAMWEL OWINO
Mystery surrounds Sh2.5 billion that the Agriculture ministry used above its budget to buy subsidised fertiliser last year.
Auditor-General Edward Ouko in his 2017/2018 financial year report raised the red flag over the suspicious transactions in the procurement of subsidised fertiliser that could cost taxpayers billions.
REVISED COST
The report indicates that initially, the ministry had Sh5 billion to procure 168,480 tonnes of fertiliser, which was adjusted upwards to Sh5.5 billion. The auditor’s report says the revised amount was not justified.
The only reason given, according to the report, was that the ministry had planned to clear a Sh7.99 billion NCPB debt.
However, Mr Ouko noted that no documentary evidence was provided to link revision of the budget upwards to amounts owing to the cereals board.
In the suspicious spending, the ministry was allocated Sh2.39 billion whereas the National Cereals and Produce Board procured fertiliser worth Sh5.71 billion.
The ministry ended up spending Sh8.11 billion to obtain 147,775.25 tonnes of fertiliser instead of the Sh5.57 billion which was approved.
“No reason was given for failure by the State department to order the full amount of 168,480 tonnes of fertilizer as in the approved budget. No explanation was provided for the revised cost of fertiliser,” reads the audit report.
TWO ENTITIES
Total fertiliser the NCPB and state department of agriculture ordered amounted to 149,775.25 tonnes at a cost of Sh8.1 billion, which was shared between the two entities, the auditor says in the report majority leader Aden Duale tabled in Parliament.
The State department of agriculture ordered 932,000 bags of various types of fertiliser of 50kg each with a total weight of 46,600 tonnes.
Out of the 46,600 tonnes valued at Sh2.4 billion, 40,000 tonnes were ordered from Export Trading Company, while the balance was ordered from Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (Agpo) firms.
During the year under review, the NCPB was also assigned to order 115,700 tonnes of various types of fertiliser
According to the report, NCPB was already in contract with M/S trading company at a cost of Sh5.5 billion.
However NCPB ordered 103,183.5 tonnes of fertiliser leaving a balance of 12,516.5 tonnes at a cost of Sh5.7 billion.
Source: Daily Nation