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National Museums of Kenya is in the red, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has revealed.

 In a report for the financial year ending June 2021, Gathungu regretted that the institution is not in a position to meet its current financial obligations as they fall due and that it largely depends on creditors and government grants to meet its day to day operations.

 Gathungu’s report tabled in the National Assembly last week shows the institution’s  current liabilities stand at  Sh276.85 million against current assets of Sh137.68 million, translating to a negative working capital of Sh139.17 million.

 The audit further shows that the state corporation recorded a deficit of Sh434.66 million, “which depleted revenue reserves” from Sh12.94 million to negative Sh421.72 million, further casting doubts over its sustainability.  “This precarious financial position has not been disclosed in the financial statements,” the audit presented in Parliament last week, states.

Outstanding bills

Gathungu also raised concern over outstanding bills amounting to Sh61.6million some dating to as far as the financial years 2006/2007 that have not been settled up to date.

 “Review of the documents and schedules provided for the audit reflected an amount of Sh61,639,784 in respect to outstanding bills, some dating as far back as the financial year 2006/2007. No explanation was given as to why the bills were not cleared during the year under the review despite the corporation reporting a cash and cash equivalent of Sh88,507, 231 as at June 2021,” reads the report.

Gathungu also raised concern that the government may not get value for money for the Sh226.02 million Fort Jesus UNESCO World Heritage site in Mombasa which has stalled despite Sh108.37 having already been paid to a local contractor undertaking construction of the heritage site project.

She said  the delay in completion of the project may result in cost escalation and that the public may not get value for the funds already pumped into the project.  

A site visit by the auditors indicated that the local contractor was not on site and had not been on the ground since December 2021. Further highlighted is the Sh59.35 million Vasco Da Gama Seawall and concrete repairs project that has overshot its completion period.

 The works on the Fort Jesus UNESCO World Heritage site started on September 3, 2020 with the completion date set for March 3, 2021 before being extended twice, to June 3, 2021 and September 15, 2021.

 “It was noted that the extended periods had already elapsed and still the works are yet to be completed despite the company being paid Sh108.37 million by the end of the period under review,” the audit report states. 

Audit verification in February 2022 indicated that a football pitch was yet to be completed. “A public works officer informed the audit team that there was a presidential directive to have an ablution block built on the pitch. Excavations had been done but the ablution block had not been built,” the report states.

Audit verification

 On the Vasco Da Gama Seawall and concrete repairs project that started on May 25, 2020 and was to be completed on May 10, 2021, Gathungu regretted that work done was poor.

 The audit report shows that although the contractor had finished the works and handed over the project to the National Museums of Kenya, audit verification during February this year revealed that the pavement on the eastern wall had cracked and part of the ground had sunk.  “Consequently, the poor workmanship could be indicative of a lack of supervision and disregard to the desired value for money to the public,” the audit report says.