Audit exposes rot in stalled Sh23m Siaya bus park project

A section of Siaya town bus park. [Isaiah Gwengi, Standard]

The construction of Siaya town bus park is yet to be completed despite the huge amount of money spent on it.

For more than two years, after the former Governor Cornel Rasanga commissioned its construction, the facility has been turned into a waste disposal site.

The tender for the construction of the bus park was awarded in March 2020 at a cost of Sh23 million. The expected completion date at the time was February 22, 2021.

According to the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 30, 2022, there was no evidence that the extension was given after a recommendation by the evaluation committee as required by section 139(2)(a).

“At the time of this audit, the contractor had been paid Sh12.6 million, the project was estimated to be at a 60 per cent level of completion but the project duration had elapsed by over 16 months,” read the report.

Appearing before the County Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chaired by Yala Township MCA William Kinyanyi, the county executive in charge of Finance Benedict Omollo said the contractor requested for mutual termination of the project.