Special audit uncovers string of failings at water agency
A State corporation under the ministry of Environment is under the radar of the Auditor General for spending Sh31 million on board meetings in 2019 under questionable circumstances.
The Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) board held record 78 meetings in 2019 contrary to the legally recommended four per year.
The Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has questioned the need for the high number of board meetings at the agency a move that was in total violation of the State Corporation Act that caps board meetings to one every quarter per year.
Further Ms Gathungu also questioned KWTA inability to make use of Kes50 million initial allocation that was meant to start off its operations. The cash continues to lie idle at the agency’s account in the Central Bank.
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Established in 2012, KWTA is mandated to coordinate and oversee the protection, rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable management of water towers in the country.
“No satisfactory explanation was provided by the management for the failure to operationalise the fund so that it may achieve its purpose. In the circumstance, the agency may have breached the law,” the audit report said in part.
Water towers in Kenya continue to grapple with encroachment, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and land degradation due to increased human population and rising demand for natural resources.
