NAIROBI, March 4 (NNN-KBC) -- The Kenyan government has asked the World Bank to review its procurement rules and procedures for disbursing funds to avoid delays in implementation of projects.

During a meeting with directors of the Bank at the Treasury offices here, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the government was incurring extra costs in World Bank-funded programmes ebcause of slow implementation, lengthy procurement procedures and delays in disbursement of funding.

He cited the delay in responding to Kenya's application for Clean Technology Fund and construction of the Northern Corridor where a contract awarded to a Chinese company was nullified by the Bank, further delaying the whole project.

The Prime Minister, in sentiments shared by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Roads Minister Franklin Bett, added that World Bank-financed projects had "awfully long" procurement procedures.

Currently, the Bank had yet to disburse some 1.5 billion USD in funds committed to the country, Odinga said.

The executive directors of the World Bank are in the country for as part of a routine visit to member countries to assess the implementation of Bank-financed projects. They will also be visiting Seychelles and the Union of Comoros.

Odinga thanked the Bank for various projects in the country receiving financial commitment of more than 1.6 billion USD but he asked the officials to speed up the Bank's due diligence procedures.

He said the government appreciated the approved additional funding for the Northern Corridor, Lake Victoria Environment Management and Energy Recovery projects.

He said the government also appreciated the Bank's willingness to fund the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project whose negotiations ended in Washington last week and was due for presentation to the Board at the end of the month.

Odinga asked the Bank to support Kenya's environmental conservation and green energy programmes.

The bank directors later attended a roundtable with the ministers of Agriculture, Roads, Water, Public Health, Education and Energy who presented their programmes and experiences with the Bank.

At the function, Kenyatta asked for support for various programmes the government had launched to eradicate regional disparities. He said the government was keen to distribute equitable development and cited the stimulus package and rural electrification programmes as examples.

The Finance Minister also asked the Bank to support regional integration in East Africa.

Responding to the issues, the leader of the World Bank delegation said the institution was rethinking its mandate and was reviewing its investment lending practice.

The officials said the mission from Washington was a manifestation that the Bank recognized the reforms going on in Kenya and the country's ability to cope with the recession. -- NNN-KBC