NYS inquiry will not yield much, says Mbadi

The investigations into the National Youth Service scandal by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will not yield much because some of the members have been compromised, an MP has claimed.

Suba MP John Mbadi, who is a member of the committee, said officers from the Office of the President have been lobbying to prevent Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and Deputy President William Ruto’s personal assistant Farouk Kibet from being summoned by the committee.

“I know for sure that the Presidency might not be Uhuru Kenyatta but the Presidency, that office, has called the senior members of PAC to tell them not to invite these people,” he said.

Mr Mbadi made the allegations during an interview on NTV on Tuesday evening, hours after it was revealed that PAC member Junet Mohammed  and his sister were directors of firms that made millions from contracts with NYS.

Mr Mohammed, who is also the ODM director of elections, has said that he resigned from Zeigham Enterprises Limited before it started doing the NYS jobs and that the others in Fahaza Limited are his relatives.

Mr Mohammed does not attend meetings of the committee touching on NYS.

Mr Mbadi said that from the information before PAC, the amount lost could be more than Sh10 billion.

Members of the committee are said to be disgruntled with the decision to have Mr Murkomen and Mr Kibet make written submissions before it is decided whether they are to appear before the committee.

The members are said to be agitating to have the duo appear in person like others, with those who spoke to Nation privately saying the senator’s statements in public had worsened the situation. “I don’t see this PAC doing justice to Kenyans if we don’t dig deep,” said Mr Mbadi.

He said PAC members who are in Jubilee are under instructions to ensure Mr Murkomen is not summoned. “There are attempts to reach some of the members of PAC, and they have been reached, some even from ODM. They have been called by senior members of the Jubilee administration,” said the MP.
“The investigation is not going to be as comprehensive as we thought,” he added.

Mr Murkomen has said that the Sh15 million sent to the account of Sin’goei, Murkomen and Sigei Advocates was to enable a client, Out of the Box Solutions Limited, buy property. But Mr Mbadi disputed this.

“He cannot explain it. What was this client buying? Which is this piece of land they were buying? Where? Can he come to the committee and tell us?”

Mr Mbadi said he is ready to confront Mr Murkomen with whatever other information he has regarding the transactions he claims he did for Out of the Box Solutions Ltd.

“If you don’t invite Farouk Kibet, if you don’t invite Murkomen and his law firm, this report will not be conclusive. This report will not be comprehensive,” he added.