MPs order fresh probe into Ksh844M JOOUST hostel project over audit queries
By Emmanuel Rono, July 10, 2026The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) on Governance and Education has ordered fresh investigations into the construction of a 1,000-bed students’ hostel at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) following audit concerns over contract variations, payments amounting to Ksh844 million and an ongoing court dispute involving the contractor.
The committee, chaired by Dick Maungu on July 9, 2026, directed that former Vice-Chancellor Stephen Gaya Agong, project consultants and auditors appear before it to explain the project’s rising costs and whether procurement laws were followed.
The hostel project was awarded to Sasah General Merchants in February 2010 at a contract sum of Ksh663.9 million and was expected to be completed within three years. However, certified payments later rose to Ksh844.1 million.
According to the Auditor-General’s reports for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, the university failed to provide documents supporting contract variations worth Ksh180.1 million. Auditors also noted that completion and handover certificates were unavailable despite students already occupying the hostel.
The committee further learnt that the contractor has sued the university in civil case No. E002 of 2023 over alleged unpaid dues, raising fears of additional legal costs to taxpayers.
Mismanagement of funds
Representing the Office of the Auditor-General, Kisumu Regional Office, CPA Kennedy Ongoi warned that litigation could expose public funds to avoidable losses.
“Where a contractor takes a public institution to court demanding payment, the institution risks paying legal fees and penalties. These are avoidable expenses if projects are managed prudently,” Ongoi said.
Appearing before the committee, Agong, who served as Vice-Chancellor until June 19, 2023, said the university had paid close to Ksh600 million during his tenure and maintained that the final payment certificate reflected only Ksh4.8 million.
However, committee chairperson Dick Maungu questioned the explanation, noting that Certificate Number Five, prepared on June 9, 2023, 10 days before Agong left office, showed cumulative certified payments of about Ksh844 million.
“You exited the university on June 19, 2023, and before you left, Certificate Number Five had already been prepared showing Ksh844 million. Meaning all this happened within your tenure,” Maungu said.
Committee documents indicated that the project attracted several contract variations, including additional payments of Ksh19.8 million, Ksh38.1 million, Ksh44.1 million, Ksh528,000 and another Ksh79.6 million listed as “fluctuations.”Maungu questioned whether the additional payments complied with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
“There is something unique called fluctuations amounting to Ksh79.6 million. We need to understand where this falls under procurement law because fluctuations and variations are different,” he said.
Agong denied approving the disputed Ksh79.6 million, insisting it was not part of the final accounts he signed. He argued that part of the expenditure may have gone toward maintenance works after students moved into the hostel, including repairs following a fire incident.
He also defended retaining the same contractor for maintenance works, saying bringing in a different contractor while the hostel was occupied would have been impractical. Members of the committee, however, remained unconvinced.