Embassy assets sale raises eyebrows

• Money received by CBK after mission property was sold short by Sh8.4m, House committee told

The Central Bank of Kenya did not receive the whole amount of proceeds from the sale of the Kenya mission property in Nigeria in 2008 for transmission to Treasury, a House team heard.

According to the governor, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, CBK received instructions from the Foreign Affairs ministry to transfer proceeds of the sale of the property amounting to Sh984.7 million from the mission in Nigeria to Treasury.

However, what was released was Sh976.3 million, resulting in a discrepancy of Sh8.4 million.

“There was a difference between what was advised for transfer and what was received and we tried to find out what had happened to the other amount,” the CBK governor said on Tuesday.

Prof Ngung’u appeared before the parliamentary committee on Defence and Foreign Relations on Tuesday to give CBK’s position on proceeds from the sale of the property in Nigeria.

The CBK governor was accompanied by the director, Banking Services, at the bank, Mr Gerald Nyaoma.

Some £14,000 (Sh1.7 million) was spent on transferring the money through the Bank of England, the committee heard.

Although the instructions to the bank were that the entire amount be transferred, CBK said it noted a difference of the Sh8.4 million from what was finally received.

Prof Ndung’u said the bank did not follow up the matter to find out what happened to the difference in the amount.

“If the ministry wanted to engage the High Commission in Abuja, that would have been a Ministry of Foreign Affairs issue,” he said before the committee investigating acquisition and sale of the Kenya mission property.

He said the bank could only deal with what it received and could not determine what happened to cause the discrepancy in the initial amount that was to be transferred and what was actually transferred.

However, the committee chairman Adan Keynan said CBK could not run away from prudent financial management.

“If the transactions were suspect you have a right to make queries, the discrepancy should have been queried,’ he said.

Present at the meeting were MPs George Nyamweya, Benedict Gunda, Charles Kilonzo, Jeremiah Kioni and Wilson Litole.