Kenya: NPSC spent Sh31m for rent of empty office

NAIROBI: The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) spent over Sh31 million on rent for offices that have never been occupied for six months, the Auditor General’s report has revealed.

The report also revealed that the commission had been paying Sh1,944,844 as monthly rent for two of the four floors it has leased at Skypark Building, yet it had never occupied them. For 16 months, the offices remained unoccupied yet the commission paid Sh31.1 million as rent. The Auditor General Edward Ouko said it had not been possible to confirm the propriety of the expenditure as a proper charge on public funds.

NPSC has never signed a lease agreement with the owner of Skypark, despite the fact that it occupies four floors of the building at Sh59.8 million annual rent. So the validity of the rental payments could not be ascertained as at June 30, 2014. Out of 16 motor vehicles in NPSC’s custody, only four logbooks were provided to the Auditor General for review.