The National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee 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) after audit queries emerged over contract variations, payments amounting to Sh844 million and a pending court case involving the contractor.
The committee, chaired by Luanda MP Dick Maungu, resolved to summon former Vice-Chancellor Stephen Gaya Agong alongside project consultants and auditors after members raised concerns over the project’s escalating cost and compliance with procurement laws.
The hostel project was awarded to Sasah General Merchants in February 2010 at Sh663.9 million and was expected to be completed within three years. However, certified payments eventually rose to Sh844.1 million.
According to the Auditor-General’s report for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, the university failed to produce documents supporting contract variations amounting to Sh180.1 million. Completion and handover certificates were also unavailable during the audit despite students already occupying the facility.
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.
Representing the Office of the Auditor-General, Kisumu Regional Office, CPA Kennedy Ongoi warned that litigation could expose public funds to avoidable losses.
Read Also: Every Step Changes a Life: Join The East African University Half Marathon 2026 as a Sponsor
Kenya University Debt Crisis: Sh85 Billion Shocker for 11 Institutions
“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, Prof. Agong, who served as Vice-Chancellor until June 19, 2023, said the university had paid “close to Sh600 million” during his tenure and maintained that the final payment certificate reflected only Sh4.8 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 Sh844 million.
“You exited the university on June 19, 2023, and before you left, Certificate Number Five had already been prepared showing Sh844 million. Meaning all this happened within your tenure,” Maungu said.
Committee documents showed the project attracted several variations, including additional payments of Sh19.8 million, Sh38.1 million, Sh44.1 million, Sh528,000 and another Sh79.6 million classified as “fluctuations.”
Maungu questioned the legal basis of the additional payments, saying the committee needed to establish whether they complied with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act.
“There is something unique called fluctuations amounting to Sh79.6 million. We need to understand where this falls under procurement law because fluctuations and variations are different,” he said.
Agong denied approving the disputed Sh79.6 million, insisting it was not part of the final accounts he signed. He added that some of the overall expenditure could have related to maintenance works undertaken after students occupied the hostel, including repairs following a fire incident.
He also defended retaining the same contractor for maintenance works, arguing that changing contractors while students occupied the building would have been impractical.
MPs, however, remained unconvinced.
Kilome MP Thaddeus Nzambia called for another hearing involving the former and current vice-chancellors, the auditor and the contractor, saying the committee needed all parties to establish the facts.
Lungalunga MP Chiforomodo Mangale Munga demanded production of all project records, while Central Imenti MP Moses Kirima said the committee had “opened a Pandora’s box” and needed to establish who authorised the payments and why the contractor moved to court.
Current Vice-Chancellor Prof. Emily Akuno urged the committee to help resolve the long-running dispute.
Maungu directed that Prof. Agong be supplied with all project documents before the next hearing, saying the committee would determine accountability and recover any public funds found to have been lost.
