Audit flags GDC for Sh344m ghost software

Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is on the spot over failure to utilise monitoring software acquired more than a decade ago.

An audit indicates that in 2014, GDC entered into a Sh344.5 million contract with an international company for the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of the software.

The software was to relay information during the drilling process and off-site monitoring.

In addition, the contractor was to supply a fleet management system, CCTV systems for each rig, and the rig’s information system.

However, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has revealed that the firm never installed the software despite receiving payment of Sh137,805,089.

“However, field verification in November 2024 revealed the Company has never used or installed this software since they were procured, yet the supplier had been paid the advance payment.

“Management also indicated that the matter is with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and that efforts to obtain a progress report on the case have not yielded any feedback from the Commission; therefore, there was no evidence to prove this assertion by management,” read the audit in part.

The Auditor General also raised concern over the company’s failure to insure its seven drilling rigs valued at Sh4.7 billion, exposing them to high risks in the event of an unfortunate incident.

The concerns come at a time when GDC is facing accusations of discrimination against employees despite an advisory by the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) on the filling of positions and promotion of employees.

The Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers’ Union (Ketawu) said GDC continues to discriminate against employees despite the advisory.

Ketawu, in a letter to Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, raised concern over alleged selective policy application at senior management levels on academic qualifications acquired in service

The union also noted continued discrimination against unionisable employees.

Ketawu National General-Secretary Ernest Nadome, in a letter dated August 8, 2025, noted that SCAC guided the recognition of academic qualifications acquired in service in May 2025, indicating that such qualifications shall be considered for jobs advertised internally or externally on a competitive basis, and outlawed upgrades.

But SCAC Secretary Simon Indimuli, in a circular, said employees of State corporations will not be automatically promoted after advancing their studies. He said such employees will be required to apply for vacant positions should they arise.

He added that upgrading a staff member who was hired without a degree to a position requiring a university degree, solely on the basis of having obtained one, amounts to mischievously filling a vacant post without opening it up to a competitive and transparent process.

Indimuli further noted that the practice of upgrading officers to higher grades due to acquired degree certificates could also imply that the staff establishment is porous enough to absorb any number of certificate holders, without regard to capping within the complement control system.

He made the remarks in an advisory to GDC, which had sought guidance on how to handle the grading of officers who obtain undergraduate degrees while in service.

However, Ketawu noted that the positions of General Manager, Corporate Services; General Manager, Finance and Investment; and Manager, Human Resource Management were filled without advertising.

Nadome noted that the SCAC recommendation is now being applied selectively within unionisable grades only.

He also claimed that there is a proposal requiring employees in Grade 10 to be interviewed before promotion to Grade 9, yet promotions and/or upgrades at higher grades were done without interviews.

“The positions required master’s qualifications, which were acquired while in service and considered, while unionisable grades were not. This has raised serious issues on fairness, equity, and transparency not being exercised, hence discrimination,” read the letter signed by Nadome.

Nadome also called for the rectification of errors previously made, as some of the employees were placed in the wrong job at the time of selection.

The union also called for the suspension of external hiring of staff without advertising.