The Principal Secretary for the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga, was sent away from Parliament for unsatisfactory responses.
While appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Special Funds on Thursday, February 16, the PS failed to produce relevant documents required by the committee.
“The PS was turned away by the Committee’s Chairperson Fatuma Zainab Mohammed and directed to come back after two weeks with appropriate responses to queries raised by Members,” the committee ruled.
He was given two weeks to collect the relevant information and present it before the committee.
“As the meeting progressed, it was evident the PS had little to clear the air – a situation that forced the committee to adjourn the meeting,” the committee added.
According to the committee, the two-week window was to allow the PS and his team to put their house in order before they are allowed to appear again before the committee.
Hinga failed to answer questions on the discrepancies in the department’s transactions as captured in the Auditor General’s report on financial statements of the Civil Servants Housing Fund for the Financial Year 2020/21.
A team from the Auditor General’s office noted the lack of accuracy in the documents outlining the transactions carried out by the department.
Some of the members of the committee were Fatum Zainab Mohammed, Kivasu Nzioka, and Joshua Oron among others.
In the period under review, civil servants reportedly took Ksh6.2 billion in home loans in the state scheme. The funds were to help over 1,300 civil servants to buy or build homes.
Furthermore, the scheme was aimed at encouraging the uptake of mortgages among civil servants allowing government workers to access loans and pay their mortgage up to five years after the official retirement age of 60.
“The loans issued to civil servants within the fourth quarter of the financial year 2020/21 amounted to about Ksh194.5 million facilitating 30 civil servants,” the PS stated in a past interview.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE
