DAMNING FINDINGS ON ENGAGED FOREIGN STAFF WHO DO NOT MEET MINIMUM QUALIFICATION OR REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS ON KENHA AND OTHER RELATED KENYA ROAD PROJECTS

Observation and Criteria 

Tender documents specify the minimum required qualifications for a bidder to be considered and evaluated. On review of the bid documents and evaluation reports for the sampled projects, it has severally observed that the qualifications of some foreign staff engaged in the projects did not meet the tender requirements.

Risk and Implication 

Engaging persons who do not meet the qualifications and experience requirements may lead to substandard work.  

Recommendation 

Management should ensure that expatriate staff to be engaged meet the minimum required qualifications. This should be done as part of the approval process for the staff to ensure that the Authority maintains high-quality standards of work as intended. 

Observation and Criteria 

Most proposed key staff were not conversant with the English language and did not have the minimum number of years required experience respectively. However, Management did not reject these staff but put them on probation as a remedy to the inadequacies. There was no further information to determine what action was taken after the end of the probation period. The affected staff continued serving beyond the probation period. Qualification requirements in the respective contracts did not have any provisions for probation. The Engineer was therefore not authorized to take this action. 

Root Cause 

Failure to adhere to contractual provisions 

Risk and Implication 

Management risks encouraging bidders to include unqualified foreign staff in bid documents in the hope of requesting for probation periods for such staff. This could have negative implications as to the integrity of bidding standards set by the Authority. 

Recommendation 

Management should strictly adhere to contractual provisions. Where staff proposed by contractors do not meet contractual specifications, these should not be approved. Contractors should be requested to provide qualified replacements for these staff. 

Observation and Criteria 

Most reviewed project progress reports and work permit documentation and observed that a considerable number of foreign staff were engaged in projects without having valid working permits i.e., contractors were allowed to engage corruptly foreign staff in projects without evidence of work permits.  

Root Cause 

Failure to monitor engagement of foreign staff in projects. 

Recommendation 

Management should put in place mechanisms to capture the movement of foreign staff in projects throughout the contract period to ensure compliance to the requirements. Prior to engagement of foreign staff, the contractor should be compelled to provide proof that all staff to be engaged have the required documentation. It should be a requirement that Management approves all foreign staff engaged by contractors. All foreign staff should therefore be subject to the same approval threshold. This will ensure compliance to legal requirements for engagement of foreign nationals in the Authority’s projects.  

Observation and Criteria 

Work permits for staff in some projects did not identify the project that the staff were authorized to serve. 

Root Cause 

Failure to specify the project for which a work permit is issued. 

Risk and Implication 

Management risks having foreign experts that are not dedicated to the projects for which they are assigned. Non-specific work permits give foreign staff freedom to move from one project to another which means the Authority may not be able to get full value from such experts. In addition, management may not be able to monitor whether foreign personnel return to their countries on completion of their contract periods when work permits are not specific. 

Recommendation 

Management should only approve the issuance of project-specific work permits to foreign staff. This will ensure that staff are dedicated to the projects they serve in and do not engage in other activities. In addition, project-specific work permits will ensure that the Authority is not held liable for any unauthorized extended stay of the foreign staff beyond the project life. 

Observation and Criteria 

Many reviewed project progress reports and work permit documentation show that there was no detailed correspondence on the renewal of work permits for foreign staff. 

KeNHA board resolutions of the 95th Board meeting required management to ensure renewal of all work permits is subject to need and relevance, and clearance from regulatory bodies. 

Root Cause 

Failure to document renewal of work permits for foreign staff 

Risk and Implication 

Lack of documentation on the renewals of foreign staff work permits makes it difficult for Management to determine whether any such renewals were subject to the needs of the project, relevance and regulatory clearance. 

Recommendation 

Management should put in place mechanisms to ensure all relevant information about foreign staff including renewal of work permits is captured.

Management should institute mechanisms of checking whether contractors’ staff hold the right class of work permits. This will enhance compliance to the law and ensure that staff in the Authority’s projects have the necessary paperwork and authorization from the Immigration Department.  

Observation and Criteria 

IN MANY projects, foreign staff in the projects had not acquired practising licenses from local regulatory/ professional bodies. 

The Authority requires that foreign professionals deployed in projects are licensed by their regulatory bodies in Kenya. 

Root Cause 

Failure to adhere to the Authority’s procedures and best practices.

Risk and Implication 

The Authority risks engaging foreign staff who are not qualified or whose professional status is not in good standing. This could result in a contravention of the Authority’s quality policy.  

Recommendation 

Management should ensure that no foreign professional is engaged without licensing from the regulatory/ professional bodies. Contractors should be compelled to ensure that key foreign staff engaged in projects receive approval from the local professional bodies. Management should make this a prerequisite to the approval of the contractor’s key staff. This will ensure that key staff engaged by contractors have the requisite qualifications, experience and professional integrity to undertake their appointed roles. 

Observation and Criteria 

Many reviewed project documents and noted the following omissions: 

Section 4.5.3 of KeNHA’s ERM Policy (May 2017) assigns the responsibility of overseeing the risk identification & assessment process. Section 4.6 assigns the responsibility of ensuring accuracy and completeness of the risk registers to the process owners. 

Root Cause 

Risk and Implication 

Risks arising from engagement and management of foreign nationals in the Authority’s projects may not be prudently managed in the absence of documented processes, lack of process maps and failure to identify risks related to the subject area. 

Recommendation 

Management should come up with documentation on the process of engagement of foreign staff in projects. This should be complete with process maps identifying all key decision points. This will allow for proper risk identification and documentation of risk registers both departmental and project-based. Consequently, risks arising out of the process will be adequately managed.