Mutua links Kalonzo Musyoka to land grabbing

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has sensationally linked Cord co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka to land grabbing and "revealed" the amount of money the Wiper Party leader was given to become opposition chief Raila Odinga’s running mate in the 2013 elections.

Dr Mutua made the revelations on Wednesday as he fought off issues of financial malpractices raised in the auditor-general’s report when he appeared before the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee for the second time this week.

On Wednesday he told the committee, chaired by Kisumu Senator Anyang Nyong’o, that Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, a sitting senator whom he did not name, and Ministry of lands officials, should be investigated for the illegal land transactions in the county.

The governor said that Mr Musyoka irregularly influenced the allocation of three pieces of land to himself when he served as the country’s vice president.

The matter came up after a special audit revealed that an undetermined number of land parcels and buildings belonging to the County valued at Sh961 million did not have title deeds and were prone to grabbing or encroachment.

ACCOUNT FOR WEALTH

Dr Mutua tabled a letter by Ndegwa and Ndegwa Associates to the anti-graft agency, the National Land Commission and the Commission on Administrative Justice that is also copied to the governor and reads: “Using his position as vice president, he illegally and irregularly influenced the allocation to himself and through proxies of the following parcels of land in complete disregard on the conduct of public officers.”

“LR. No. 22278 and IR 130409 in Mavoko Municipality, Machakos in the name of Desiral Ltd a company believed to be registered in his name and that of his wife, Mrs Pauline Kalonzo.

“LR. No. 201185 IR No. 67338, a parcel of 4,000 ha in Mavoko municipality...”

The documents that require the Wiper leader to account for his source of wealth indicate that the source of approximately Sh200 million used to buy a Eurocopter B3, registration number 5Y DKK, is suspicious.

But Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama warned the committee to be cautious not to be drawn into politics and forget the fact that the audit is about how public funds have been spent at the county.

“Let’s focus on the business before us. Nobody is scared to climb up a political podium at the right time and say what he wants to say. We can do politics but let’s not politicise this issue,” he said.

CONFRONTED WITH HUGE DEBTS

The senator clashed with the governor over the authenticity of some of the documents presented, citing a letter dated February 25, when governors had not assumed office.

During the session, Dr Mutua came under attack over Sh2.8 billion in pending bills, with senators raising concerns newly elected county bosses might be confronted with huge debts.

The senators said the governor was unable to produce receipts to show how he arrived at a lesser figure, as the outstanding debts.

“The governor says it is not Sh2.8 billion but 400 million. Anybody can generate figures. We need names of companies and contracts that led to the pending bills,” Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) said.

Ms Wangari said governors with outstanding debts must be held responsible to save counties from liabilities.

“We are headed to an election. New county governments will inherit huge figures to deal with,” Ms Wangari said.

John Lonyangapuo (West Pokot) regretted that some county executives were obsessed with issuing contracts, without following the law, which include county assembly approvals.

The senators faulted the governor for being reluctant to produce a register that shows the county’s debts.

“You have a register of pending bills. Why will you need more than two hours to produce that,” Dr Khalwale quipped.