State Department for MSMEs questioned over Sh22m office lease

The State Department for MSMEs has been put on the spot over Sh22 million spent on leasing office space, despite owning a building that remains largely unoccupied. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni was tasked with explaining why the department opted to lease office space while the Kenya Institute of Business Training (KIBT) building, which falls under the State Department, is only 60 percent occupied. Members of Parliament questioned the prudence of the expenditure, citing the millions of shillings that KIBT has received over the years, yet its building remains incomplete. PS Mang’eni told the committee that at the time of the audit report, the KIBT building had not been officially handed over to the State Department for MSMEs, and therefore its functionality and use could not be actualized.