Ministry spends millions on condom dispensers, pens and a DVD player

Ministry spends millions on condom dispensers, pens and a DVD player

The Ministry of Devolution and Planning is once again on the spotlight over what has been termed as inflation of costs of items during the procurement process.

According to the Financial Register for the year 2013 – 2014 in our possession, the Ministry inflated the cost of basic commodities supplied to it during the same fiscal year.

The Ministry, according to the document procured 18 male and female condom dispensers at a cost of Ksh 450,000, which translates to Ksh 25,000 each. On average, a condom dispenser costs Ksh 8,900 or USD 89.

The document shows that the Ministry bought 20 ball point pens at Ksh 174,000. However, it is not clear on whether the quantity indicated is per packaging box or per pen. If the cost is per pen, it means each piece was bought at Ksh 8,700; if per packaging box, it means each piece (pen) was bought at Ksh 435.

The types of pens specified would cost on average between Ksh 15 – Ksh 20.

The Ministry also paid Ksh 28,804,324 for partitioning of its offices at the Barclays Plaza in the city centre. The payments were made in four different installments. In the first two payments made in January 2014, the Ministry paid Ksh 4,918,387 as per LPO number STD/210114 and Ksh 7,341,992 as per LPO number STD/050214.

The third payment was made in March 2014 and amounted to Ksh 10,425,923 as per LPO number STD/020414, while the final payment of Ksh 6,118,028 was made in June the same year as per LPO number STD/301614.

The Ministry also paid Ksh 820,400 for two binding machines in December 2013 as per LPO number STD/100114. This means that each binding machine was purchased at a price of Ksh 420,200. This raises eyebrows as the same Ministry purchased another binding Machine in May 2014 at a cost of Ksh 46,200, a price that differs from the earlier one with Ksh 374,000.

As if this was not enough, the Ministry – which is under Ms Anne Waiguru – procured Kaspersky anti-virus at a cost of Ksh 973,780 in September 2013 as per transaction number DPSM/480.

It also purchased the Adobe InDesign CS6 software for office use at a cost of Ksh 1,900,000 in June 2014 under the LPO number STD/013. On average, the software costs Ksh 69,900 and equivalent of USD 699, this is according to online shopping giant Amazon.

Another striking procurement is the purchase of a Piano, Yamaha make for office use at a cost of Ksh 235,900. Details are still not specific on what the exact use of the piano is.

The Ministry also spent Ksh 45,000 on a single DVD player that was purchased on April 4th, 2015 for use in the office of a Mrs. Okumu.  According to bestbuy.com and Walmart, the most expensive DVD players cost on average USD 149, an equivalent of Ksh 14,900.

Another Ksh 98,195,769 was paid for the rehabilitation of the Maungu Lorry Park in Taita Taveta County in December 2013.

The Ministry of Planning and Devolution was making headlines a few weeks ago following revelations that over Ksh 791 million was lost through fraudulent transactions in the National Youth Service (NYS).

According to confidential documents in our possession, police investigations established that the entries for payment through the government’s IFMIS system were manipulated by introducing zeroes on all the transactions, resulting in the theft of 712 million shillings.

In a letter dated 10th September, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations recommended that 22 NYS officers, who include Adan Harakhe – the man at the centre of the scandal, be charged with fraud jointly with the purported suppliers.

The police investigations further pointed out the Principal Secretary for Planning Engineer Peter Mangiti as being among the officers bearing the highest responsibility for the fraudulent transactions.

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ANNE WAIGURU devolution ministry

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