The Bomas of Kenya is facing operational and legal challenges owing to the State failure to delink it from the ambit of Tourism Finance Corporation.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says despite a proposal to delink Bomas from the Tourism Finance Corporation being authorised 29 years ago by the corporation board, the exercise is yet to be completed.
The Bomas of Kenya is facing operational and legal challenges owing to the State failure to delink it from the ambit of Tourism Finance Corporation.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu says despite a proposal to delink Bomas from the Tourism Finance Corporation being authorised 29 years ago by the corporation board, the exercise is yet to be completed.
She said the government has also failed to act on recommendations of Parliament and legal interpretation from the Attorney General to separate the two State parastatals.
“In spite of these interventions, very minimal progress has been made on the matter. As a result, the company continues to face operational and legal challenges in meeting its obligations through the Tourism Finance Corporation,” Ms Gathungu says in a report.
Bomas of Kenya is wholly owned by the Tourism Finance Corporation through 254,000 shares of Sh20 each with a book value of Sh5,080,000.
The Tourism Finance Board approved the delinking of Bomas of Kenya from its control in 1992.
“The company (Bomas), was once delinked, expected to have proper management and investment policies that would turn it into a self-sustaining entity,” Ms Gathungu said.
In 1994, the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), with the National Treasury’s agreement, recommended that the delinking process begin in earnest but no key change has occurred for several years thereafter.
Ms Gathungu said in 2002, the Attorney General in a legal interpretation of the State Corporations Act, Cap446, concluded that one government parastatal cannot own another as was the case with the Bomas and Tourism Finance Corporation.
