Probe launched into housing firm scandal
Photo/FILE
Early this week, an NHC board audit committee released damning revelations on how officials at the corporation have been allocating houses to themselves, their relatives of cronies in government.
The Efficiency Monitoring Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office is investigating claims in an audit report that National Housing Corporation officials irregularly allocated houses to themselves.
Housing permanent secretary Tirop Kosgey on Thursday confirmed that they had engaged the unit to conduct further “professional” examination on the claims before action is taken.
“To some extent, they (Board Audit Committee members) have done a good job but we believe that we need some professionals who would go deeper and find out the cause,” he said.
On Thursday, there were reports that the Ethics and anti-Corruption detectives had also launched investigation into the matter.
Early this week, an NHC board audit committee released damning revelations on how officials at the corporation have been allocating houses to themselves, their relatives of cronies in government. (READ: Audit exposes NHC houses scam)
It points an accusing finger at the board chairman and the management of the corporation for flouting laid-down procedure for allocating houses.
The document titled, “Distortions in House Allocation: Report of House Allocation Process at the National Housing Corporation”, says “procedures were altered arbitrarily in order to suit self-interests” of senior officials in the corporation during allocations.
Some 78 officials were said to have jostled for as many as 209 units out of the eight housing schemes done by the NHC around the country.
Although the report recommended the dissolution of the board as well as the sacking of senior managers, Mr Kosgey on Thursday claimed the news of its disbandment was a “grammatical issue” because it did not illustrate the actual events.
In an interview with NTV, the PS denied press reports the board has been dissolved, but managing director James Ruitha had been retained.
Retain his post
He said Housing Minister Soita Shitanda had only instructed the board to suspend its meetings pending investigations by the unit.
Mr Kosgey said the board would only be disbanded through a gazette notice.
The board had resolved that Mr Ruitha would retain his post because he hadn’t stayed in office long enough to be guilty of the alleged misconduct, he said.
Senior estate officer Lilian Muinde, company secretary Elizabeth Mbugua and senior legal officer William Keitany were all sent home on Wednesday as a matter of “due process”, he added.
