The NMS was a flagship initiative of former President Uhuru Kenyatta established to rescue Nairobi from mismanagement under former Governor Mike Sonko.
The National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee has directed Auditor General Nancy Gathungu to investigate questionable expenditure, focusing on stalled projects and unpaid bills totalling billions of shillings.
“The committee recommends that the Auditor General conducts a special audit of the then NMS and submit a report to the committee within three months [by July],” PAC said in a report tabled in Parliament recently.
If approved by MPs, the audit will examine water, sewerage and street lighting projects valued at Sh4 billion across 15 informal settlements.
These projects in areas including Dandora, Kibera and Mathare have left contractors owed Sh665 million despite Sh1.6 billion already being paid.
The works, initially scheduled for completion by March 2022, remain unfinished.
NMS, which faced criticism over claims of militarising civilian agencies, was dissolved after Uhuru left office.
Gathungu had previously flagged delays and poor value for money in her 2022 report, prompting the current probe.
While State House has shifted responsibility for some projects to Nairobi county, the Butere MP Tindi Mwale-led Public Accounts Committee insists on full accountability.
“The committee observed that these were projects under the then NMS that it has cited,” the PAC report reads.
The investigation will also scrutinise the incomplete rehabilitation of Jeevanjee Park, an in-house NMS project that began in February 2020.
Despite procuring all the necessary materials, the park remains unfinished, with auditors questioning its value for money.
Additionally, MPs are examining irregularities in 19 health facilities construction projects across various estates.
Some facilities show as little as five per cent completion despite Amref, the funding donor, having paid the full contract value of Sh869 million upfront.
The health facilities are in Sinai, Pumwani, Majengo, Lucky Summer and Gumba estates and were at different completion levels at the time of the audit.
The project's budget has since increased by Sh76 million, with auditors questioning contractors' capacity to deliver.
“The committee observed that equipping and construction of health facilities was one of the projects under NMS that it has cited for the special audit,” the report reads.
NMS also faces queries over Sh15 billion in unpaid bills three years after its dissolution in 2022 following the lapse of Uhuru’s tenure.
“The pending bills kept compounding in the last four financial years, indicating an inability to settle bills as the first charge,” the committee report reads in part.
State House Comptroller Katoo ole Metito attributed this to inadequate disbursements from both the Nairobi County Revenue Fund and the National Treasury's Consolidated Fund.
He said the bills piled up after commitments from the start of the financial year 2020-21 were not funded.
Only Sh1.8 billion was available against commitments at the start of the 2020-21 financial year, leading to accumulating debts.
Most pending bills relate to county functions now under Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration.
However, Sh1.13 billion is linked to State House operations, including Sh882 million under the Deputy President's office.
PAC has recommended these offices settle their outstanding bills within the current financial year.
“The committee recommends that the respective accounting officers in the office of the President and Deputy President settle outstanding bills within the financial year,” MPs said.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
The 2020 Intergovernmental Agreement required NMS to receive funding from both Nairobi county and the National Treasury to perform its transferred functions in health, transport and public works. However, inconsistent disbursements from both entities left NMS unable to meet its financial obligations, creating the current crisis of unpaid bills and unfinished projects.
