Nims

A story involving the alleged procurement of defective transformers valued at over Ksh4.5 billion by Kenya Power was run by the Daily Nation. The firm was yet to recover three key tender documents; the tender evaluation report, the budget approval, and a negotiation report, to justify the suspicious procurement process. 

kenya power and lighting company (KPLC) was in the spotlight again following a Ksh1 billion pre-paid token generation revenue fraud. It was calleged that some of its employees manipulated the system to divert the company’s revenue into their own pockets. 

The shrewd employees are said to have created a system to generate extra tokens, which made possible the sale of genuine tokens in the black market. Five employees from the state corporation’s IT department were suspended by the company and placed under investigation.

Samburu county governo Moses Kasaine Lenolkulal faced some serious corruption allegations in 2019. Lenolkulal was linked to a Ksh84.7 million fuel-supply scandal in which Oryx Service Station, which police believe is owned by the governor and a close associate, was given a tender to supply the county government against the law. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officials were also looking into the fraudulent expenditure of Ksh2 billion.

Kiambu’s County Governor, Ferdinand Waititu (Alias Baba Yao) was faced with Corruption allegations in 2019. Governor Waititu alongside his wife and daughter – were being investigated over the embezzlement of Ksh588 million from county coffers, believed to have been siphoned through irregular procurement for the upgrading of several roads in Kiambu County.

The governor was slapped with cash bail, as the courts gather evidence. He was eventually impeached.

The Director of Public Prosecution, Nordin Haji uncovered in July 2019 a mega-graft Scandal on the procurement of two dams; Arwor and Kimwarer Dams. The graft case led Kenya losing 19 billion Tax Payer’s money. The scandal involved high profile people in the government such as the then CS Of treasury Henry Rotich and 28 others. The allocated budget of about Sh19.7B that was lost through this graft was meant to construct two dams, Arwor and Kimwarer Dams in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

The Ministry of Lands in February 2019 headed by lands CS Farida Karoney, could not account for the loss of 20 billion Tax Payers money. The Country’s Auditor General Edward Ouko was the one who delivered details regarding this scandal. In the report, a lot of discrepancies and inaccuracies were sited in the ministry’s June 30th, 2018 financial Statement.

The Department of Defence in October 2010, uncovered a bribery scandal involving senior Kenya Defence Force Officers in a corrupt deal for the purchase of armoured personnel carriers from South African company OTT Technologies (Pty) Ltd for a sum of Sh1.6 billion. Several high-ranking officers accused of taking bribes by OTT Technologies (Pty) Ltd, were retired by the Minister of Defence Yusuf Haji in January 2011.

This matter was referred to the parliament for further investigation. A Report on Military Modernization Programmes by the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations released in The September 2012, found that the irregular procurement of the PUMA M26 armoured carriers had violated multiple sections of the Public Procurement Act 2005 and that OTT Technologies (Pty) Ltd’s business partners in Kenya had been identified by the US Government as being involved in international crime and drugs smuggling.

It was recommended that OTT Technologies (Pty) Ltd be barred from doing any business with the Government of Kenya in the future. The same company, in 2014 was accused by the Mozambique government for irregular tax and export control activities in the transport of similar armoured carriers through Mozambique for onward trafficking into Africa.

Allegations surfaced in October 2012 that top Foreign Affairs ministry officials had ignored land offered by Japan that could have saved the country loss of Sh1.1 billion. This scandal led to the resignation of the then Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula.

The Triton oil scandal became public in January 2009. It involved unauthorized release of oil by Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) without informing its financiers. The release of the oil occurred in 2008 when Triton Oil Company was allowed by KPC to withdraw oil amounting to Kshs 7.6 billion. The company collapsed after a short while, withdrawing the oil and selling it to the market.

Triton Oil was owned by Yagnesh Devani. Kenya issued a warrant to arrest him uppon this discovery. As of January 2010 he was at large and believed to be in hiding overseas.

The sale of imported maize scandal became public in January 2009. The ban on importation of maize was lifted in late 2008 by the government to allow capable businessmen to import maize to supplement the local produce that was below the minimum required to satisfy the local market.

In early 2009 however, after parliamentary debate on a maize scandal, William Ruto was accused by Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale of illegally selling maize. All the documents bearing the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) seal that linked Mr Ruto to the illegal sale of maize were provided and accepted by Parliament’s deputy speaker.

It was alleged that Briefcase millers, existing only on paper, were given huge quantities of maize by the Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR). They accomplished this by inflating their milling per-hour capacity and having 4 Permanent Secretaries approve them. These millers and local businesses were either awarded quotas by the SGR or import permits by the NCPBK respectively were alleged to have re-directed the bags of maize outside the country as well to avoid price controls stated by the government and thus make better profits.

The ministries and departments that were implicated included; Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Special Programmes, Ministry of Finance & Treasury department and the Ministry of the Prime Minister. The Office of the Prime Minister gave instructions not to return the contaminated maize back to South Africa and was retained in Kenya to be destroyed. The puzzle is, was the maize destroyed?