Projects worth Sh13.66 billion have stalled across counties due to inadequate funding, disputes, and contractors abandoning sites, denying taxpayers better services and exposing them to losses running into billions of shillings.
Controller of Budget, Margaret Nyakang’o, revealed that 237 projects had stalled across 32 devolved units as at March this year, with Nairobi and Isiolo topping the list with projects worth Sh2.9 billion and Sh1.47 billion respectively.
Dr Nyakang’o’s revelations on the stalled projects will bring under scrutiny the counties’ planning process, with questions over whether they ensure enough funds for the initiatives and their ability to resolve disputes with various contractors.
“In total, these counties reported 237 stalled projects with an estimated value of Sh13.66 billion, of which Sh5.11 billion had already been paid,” Dr Nyakang’o says in the latest review of counties.
“The reported causes of project stalling included inadequate budgetary allocations, unresolved contract variations, contractor abandonment, contract termination, missing contract files, and projects under investigation.”
Baringo, Machakos, and Kitui counties complete the list with stalled projects valued at Sh1.33 billion, Sh1.13 billion, and Sh923 million, respectively.
Poor roads, inadequate water and sewer systems, and poor health facilities are some of the biggest struggles facing counties. This has, in turn, forced them to undertake projects to ease these woes.
Funding shortfalls are one of the biggest nightmares for counties largely due to dismal own-source revenue mobilisation and delayed disbursements of equitable share of revenue and other funds from the National Treasury.
The financing headache has left counties grappling to run day-to-day operations, besides settling pending bills, some of which have remained due for over five years.
The 32 counties had already paid Sh8.5 billion to contractors, exposing taxpayers to losses in case the firms do not return to the site. This could force counties to tap other contractors, further burdening taxpayers.
Kilifi has the highest number of stalled projects at 68, followed by Machakos at 54, while Nairobi is third with 36. This means that Nairobi’s projects have the highest value of all the stalled ones across the 32 counties.
The Sh13 billion stalled projects look set to heighten scrutiny on the counties’ preparedness to undertake them, mainly with regard to the availability of funds and also the dispute resolution.
Failure by the contractors to resume works could see counties lose billions of shillings besides incurring more expenses in tapping new firms to complete the projects.
Dr Nyakango says that the counties should give priority to the projects that can be funded and completed in the subsequent years, mainly the low-cost projects with small outstanding balances.
The National Treasury has repeatedly directed counties and the agencies of the national government to ensure the availability of funds before committing to a project. This is meant to avoid hitches and ensure timely completion to give taxpayers value for money.
