Unresolved graft scandals new regime will inherit from Kibaki’s tenure after polls

Former Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Sylvester Mwaliko, who was the first senior government official to be convicted for Anglo-Leasing scam. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • In some cases, key suspects have been let of the hook while probes into others has ended without concrete findings

President Kibaki’s 10-year tenure in office is set to leave behind a litany of corruption cases, which could have led to the loss of billions of shillings in tax-payers’ money.

Investigations into the cases are ongoing but are unlikely to be completed in the next three months before a new government is elected on March 4.

The key cases affect at least seven ministries headed by politicians from both sides of the Grand Coalition— Party of National Unity and Orange Democratic Movement.

Some of the cases under investigations include the Sh18 billion worth of the shadowy Anglo Leasing type contracts under the ministry of Home Affairs, the Sh4.2 billion free learning funds scandal at the Education ministry and the 18 cases in Water ministry worth millions of shillings.

Only this year, another scandal hit the National Hospital Insurance Fund under the Medical Services ministry involving Sh1.2 billion meant for insurance cover for civil servants.

At least five government agencies including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Criminal Investigations Department have been conducting investigations into the scam, although they are yet to make their findings public.

At the Foreign Affairs ministry, investigations into the expenditure of Sh1.1 billion in the purchase of embassy land in Tokyo, Japan, are yet to be concluded by EACC.

Former Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Sylvester Mwaliko was recently found guilty of abuse of office over a Sh3 billion passports tender award to Anglo Leasing and Finance Ltd in 2003.

Mwaliko was the first former senior government official to be convicted for the ghost project. However, he escaped jail as he was handed a non-custodial sentence and fined Sh3 million or serve three years behind bars in default.

Mr Mwaliko was put on his defence in January after the court ruled that being the person in charge of the ministry, he facilitated the award of contract to Anglo Leasing arbitrarily.

The magistrate absolved former Treasury PS Joseph Magari from blame, ruling that there was no evidence to prove he was involved in negotiating the contract. She also acquitted Mr David Onyonka and Dr Wilson Sitonik for lack of sufficient evidence.

At the Local Authorities, at least 15 senior officials are under investigation following a Sh283 million City Hall cemetery scandal where the taxpayer lost money in land judged to be useless for graves.

The case had led to the suspension of Permanent Secretary Sammy Kirui while Nairobi city mayor Geophrey Majiwa was charged in court.

At the Education ministry, Sh103 million was lost through fraudulent imprests. At least 10 officers have been charged in court following investigations by the graft watchdog.

-------------------------------

Agriculture

War on hunger benefitted a few

Individuals behind the Sh2 billion maize scandal that rocked the ministry of Agriculture in 2009 are yet to be prosecuted.

Some of the top officials who were suspended following the scandal were reinstated in their positions after investigations failed to implicate them, although the reports clearing them were not made public.

The swindle was first reported in 2008 when the government initiated a subsidised maize scheme to fight hunger that had affected more than 10 million Kenyans. However, the scheme fell prey to corrupt officials who exploited it to their benefit.

A report by PriceWaterhouse Coopers captured incidents of “briefcase traders”, who participated in under-dealings with millers to run down the programme.

Senior officials were linked to the scandal that led to the loss of maize worth Sh150 million from the Strategic Grain Reserve.

After the revelation, Prime Minister Raila Odinga ordered a thorough investigation by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit and the Inspectorate of State Corporations.

His attempt to suspend the then Agriculture Minister William Ruto to allow for investigations hit the brick wall after President Kibaki revoked the suspension within hours.

Permanent Secretary in PM’s Office Mohamed Isahakia and Principal Secretary Caroli Omondi were also recommended for investigation.

The two alongside Agriculture Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome were suspended as investigations began but were back to work three months later. Apparently, the three had been cleared by the investigators. No one has taken full responsibility for the sandal.

— By Jeremiah Kiplang’at

------------------------------------

Education

Who stole our children’s cash?

The unresolved loss of Sh4.2 billion meant for free education programmes will remain a blot on President Kibaki’s legacy.

The trail of how ministry officials embezzled the funds remains unclear, a year later since a fiduciary audit was conducted by both the UK Department for International Development and The Treasury.

The audit revealed how education officers diverted colossal amounts of money meant for schools and doctored documents to justify non-existent expenses.

An estimated Sh8.2 billion could not be accounted for when auditors from Treasury assisted by a UK financial consultant first embarked on the review of the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (Kessp) between 2005 and 2009. The figure came down to Sh4.2 billion after audit review of some of the documents that had not been submitted earlier. 

About Sh1.9 billion of the money did not reach schools as top officials in the ministry diverted the funds to private accounts.

Prof Karega Mutahi served as the Permanent Secretary during the entire period when the loss of the money occurred, before he was transferred to the Local Government docket.

This occurred even as the audit said the PS should accept overall accountability for the correct expenditure of the funds. The then Education minister Sam Ongeri denied involvement in the scandal.

Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission led the investigations that led to top directors of the ministry facing court charges but were later to be acquitted for lack of evidence.

— By Benjamin Muindi

-------------------------------------

Foreign affairs

Sh1bn vanished in embassy’s thin air

The anti-corruption commission is yet to piece together fresh details on the controversial purchase of land for the Kenyan embassy in Japan.

The investigations were based on evidence compiled by Japan and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s (EACC) officials who travelled to the country to establish the truth on the purchase of the property in Tokyo in which it is estimated that more than Sh1.1 billion of tax payers’ money may have been lost.

Recent correspondence between Attorney-General Githu Muigai and EACC acting boss Jane Muthaura showed that the government was keen to quickly conclude the investigations.

Prof Muigai had written to Ms Muthaura to speed up the translation of a Japanese report detailing the questionable purchase of the land. EACC spokesman Nicholas Simani said they will analyse the evidence gathered by the Japanese government to enrich their recommendations.

Then Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula and his PS Thuita Mwangi were forced to step down over the deal but were later reinstated. MPs and EACC condemned the move to reinstate the two.

— By Edith Fortunate

--------------------------------------

Local government

Millions buried in graves land deal

The ghost of the Sh283 million Nairobi City Council cemetery land scandal still hangs on the heads of a land surveyor and a valuer after former Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa was acquitted recently.

In August, the then Senior Principal Magistrate Lucy Nyambura (now a High Court Judge) ruled that there was no evidence to prove Mr Majiwa and former deputy Town Clerk Geophrey Kahindi conspired to purchase the controversial cemetery land in Mavoko, Machakos County.

She ruled that surveyor Cephas Kamande Mwaura and land valuer Boniface Misera had a case to answer over their role in the scam.

The four were jointly charged in October 2010 with conspiracy to acquire Sh283.2 million from the ministry of Local Government.

They were charged after a report by the Controller and Auditor General released to Parliament implicated council officers for overvaluing the 120-acre land by Sh259 million.

Valuation by the Ministry of Lands quoted the land price at Sh24 million. Mr Misera is defending himself against the charge of fraudulently acquiring Sh10 million from the council while Mr Kamande is accused of fraudulently acquiring public property.

— By Paul Ogemba

---------------------------------

Medical services

Medical scheme that never was

The scandal involving Sh1.2 billion meant for the first round of a medical scheme for civil servants is the most recent graft case to hit Kibaki administration.

Under the scheme, the National Hospital Insurance Fund lost Sh91 million that saw the entire board and the fund’s chief executive suspended. The board was sent packing after irregularities were reported in the award of tenders worth Sh634 million.

The irregularities included payment to ghost clinics, unprocedural selection of clinics and creation of an unapproved unit at NHIF to run the scheme. A caretaker board was appointed in May and revealed that the suspended board had listed 112 ghost clinics as service providers in the medical scheme.

Of Sh91 million lost, Sh66 million was paid to Clinix while Sh25 million was given to Meridian hospitals.

Officials behind the mess have not been prosecuted. Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has accused Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission of delaying the files on the investigations. He said he was still waiting for the files which had not been forwarded to him as at last week.

— By Edith Fortunate