Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano was yesterday taken to task over the decision by her ministry to proceed with the facelift of Bomas of Kenya at a cost of Sh31.6 billion without the approval of Parliament.

MPs who sit in the Wildlife and Tourism Committee chaired by Maara MP Kereke Mbiuki regretted that despite the ongoing works, they are in the dark about the development.

They further accused Miano and top ministry officials of taking the committee for granted as they only engage them during the budgeting process but do not do so whenever they are launching important projects. At a meeting with Miano, the lawmakers demanded that she tables details on the renovation to enable them determine whether there is value for money.

The details they want shared include agreements on scope of decision, the mode of procurement whether it is direct or not as well as whether advertisement for the contract was done.

Led by Kareke, MPs Abdi Ali (Ijaara) and Innocent Mugambe (Likuyani) said all the issues need to be addressed to avoid them facing similar issues like they did when Kenyatta International conference Centre (KICC) was being given a revamp.

Noting that the renovations are being done by the Ministry of Defence, the MPs said it would be prudent that they are furnished with all details to avoid facing  similar challenges.

Lots of ongoing works

Said Kareke: “Please CS tell us what is happening, your people are only keen on engaging us during the budget process but during the implementation process they pass us. We only see projects being launched in high profile events where the president is involved and we are in the dark.”

Debate on the matter started after Mugabe sought to know why the committee had been sidelined. He said: “There are a lot of works ongoing at Bomas of Kenya and as the oversight committee we don’t know what is going on. We should not take this lightly, we must be provided with information.”

Abdi said that just like KICC which was renovated by the Ministry of Defence, the same was happening with Bomas. He said: “This is not the first time we are facing issues, previously we also faced issues regarding the renovations at KICC. Am sure members don’t want to face the same frustrations they faced with KICC.”

Miano said they had taken note of all the issues raised by members and promised to share details of the ongoing renovations. She revealed that the financing of the project had been transferred from the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage to her ministry following an executive order. “We have taken note of the members’ concerns both for the Tourism Promotion Fund and Bomas of Kenya which has now been domiciled in our ministry and we are in the process of handing over.”