Chickengate: Row over use of recovered funds persists

What you need to know:

  • A senior official at the Attorney-General’s office says Kenya has failed to reach a deal with the UK authorities.
  • UK wants the Sh43.5 million spent on bed nets while Kenya is keen on buying ambulances.

State House has failed to end the standoff between Kenyan authorities and the British government over the use of £349,057.39 (Sh43.5 million) recovered from the Chickengate scandal.

Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua had been tasked to unlock the repatriation of the money recovered from a UK firm with a plan to identify projects that would be funded by the confiscated money.

A senior official at the Attorney-General’s office said Kenya had failed to reach a deal with the UK authorities.

Britain had recommended that the cash be used to buy bed nets for pregnant mothers and children in malaria-prone areas, saying that this would spread the benefits to most Kenyans and has few operating costs.

The Treasury and the anti-graft agency wanted the money recovered from British printing firm Smith & Ouzman, which bribed Kenyan officials to secure contracts, used to buy 11 ambulances for various hospitals.

IMPASSE PERSISTS

Recently, Kenya proposed using the funds to build a school for the handicapped, but the UK authorities have insisted that the money be used to buy mosquito nets.

“We’re pretty much still where we were. The parties are yet to decide on a legacy project. There are also suggestions to build a school for the handicapped. The British have suggested mosquito nets,” said the official at the State Law Office who did not want to be named.

“We’re yet to resolve on the signature project.”

Britain’s Serious Crimes Office successfully prosecuted and had top managers of the security printing firm convicted of bribing officials of the Interim Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IIEC) and the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and recovered the money that the public lost in inflated printing contracts.

Halakhe Waqo, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) chief executive, had in March accused the UK government of trying to dictate what the funds should be used for, an assertion that the British government has since denied.

SUSPECTS CLEARED

London’s Department for International Development (DfID) said the money belongs to Kenyans and they are not in a position to dictate or give any orders on its use.

The DfID said the Chickengate cash was enough to buy about 140,000 bed nets, noting that increased coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets was key in lowering child mortality and reducing the risk of malaria among pregnant women.

A new fully equipped four-wheel-drive ambulance costs about Sh8 million, meaning the seized funds can only buy six ambulances.

Mr Kinyua’s involvement comes as the EACC cleared suspects named in a London court as key players in the scandal. It recommended criminal charges against former electoral boss James Oswago.

Those missing from the EACC list but were mentioned in the London court include Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack Hassan, sacked Energy secretary Davis Chirchir and former Knec boss Paul Wasanga.