Members of Parliament (MPs) are demanding answers after a shocking revelation that Kenya Power may have paid a staggering KSh274 million to a consultant who was nowhere to be seen during a critical national project.

According to a report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, the unnamed consultant, hired during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s era to supervise the last-mile connectivity project, appears to have been largely absent from the job.

“There was no evidence of the consultant’s personnel’s presence at those sites, raising doubt on whether they had been deployed as per the contract,” the audit reads.

Site visits by the audit team found no trace of the consultant at any of the locations, triggering a storm in the National Assembly as lawmakers demanded immediate action.

The Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy Committee Chairperson David Pkosing (Pokot South MP) did not mince his words during a review of Kenya Power’s audit queries for various financial years.

“It cannot be that they were all unavailable. We are talking about KSh274 million paid to people who may not have done the work,” he said. “I am not convinced that they can all be away.”

Pkosing directed Kenya Power to provide site visit logs, inspection reports, and a full list of the consultants hired, warning that failure to do so would result in those involved being surcharged.

Kenya Power refutes claims

Kenya Power’s managing director Joseph Siror defended the payments, insisting the supervision was milestone-based rather than continuous.

“The consultant supervises multiple sites per lot, which cuts across several counties,” Siror told the oversight committee. “The audit team was assigned to the KPLC engineers for the period of the audit, whereas the consultant was engaged in supervising ongoing sites at the same time.” 

But the auditors were not convinced. They argue that even the milestone-based checks lacked the necessary paperwork.

“The available minutes tell whether the consultant personnel were present at those sites. Minutes help us get the details,” an officer of the OAG told the MPs.

Further, the audit report revealed glaring gaps in documentation crucial to procurement processes—feasibility studies, surveys, technical specifications, progress reports, and bills of quantities were missing.

Kenya Power insisted that inspections were jointly done and “no job is paid for without the team.”

Still, MPs directed the utility firm to recover the money if the consultant, hired in November 2017 according to records, is confirmed to have been absent.

Kenya Power managers told the committee they are committed to clearing the audit queries and reassured that they are on track to reduce power costs for Kenyans.