Why CJ is yet to occupy Sh300m house

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga is yet to occupy a palatial residence in the upscale Runda estate that the Judiciary bought for him last year for Sh310 million.

Billed as the official residence of the current and future chief justices, the procurement is now embroiled in a financial scandal that has attracted massive investigations at the Judiciary.

The Judiciary purchased the house from Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama and paid for it in April last year, but a scandal over procurement procedures got in the way before the CJ could occupy it.

The rot was revealed in an audit of expenses at the Judiciary over the last three years that exposed malpractices, irregularities and possible illegalities in procuring goods and services. Taxpayers are suspected to have lost billions of shillings in questionable deals that led to the sacking of Mrs Gladys Shollei as the Chief Registrar last year.

The Kenya National Audit Office (KENAO) has now written to the Judiciary questioning the process of buying the palatial residence.

Contacted, the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Ms Anne Amadi, said she could not comment exhaustively because all the important documents related tot he purchase had been taken away by auditors from the Treasury, KENAO and detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

Documents from KENAO seen by the Sunday Nation show that auditors are questioning why the Judiciary spent Sh90 million more than the amount initially budgeted for the residence.

Already, EACC has questioned Mrs Shollei, lawyer Donald Kipkorir who handled the transaction and other senior officers from the Judiciary over the matter.

We also established that the Judiciary waived the attorney-client confidentiality privilege for Mr Kipkorir when he was summoned by EACC.

Other than the CJ’s residence, other queries involve renting of office space at Elgon Place, and Rahimtullah Building in Upper Hill Nairobi.

In mid-February, KENAO reported that about 70 per cent of the space in Rahimtullah Building and 100 per cent at Elgon Place was not occupied. As a result, the auditors said Judiciary was losing Sh1.1 billion a month in unutilised premises.

Two weeks ago, the Judiciary reversed the decision to rent Elgon Place for the Court of Appeal, saying Mrs Shollei secured the premises unprocedurally.

The premises were leased last year for six years at an annual rent of Sh603.6 million.

But judges refused to move there, citing health concerns over the telecommunication masts adjacent the building.

“As the accounting officer, I am unable to sanction payment of your invoice (of Sh42.4 million for the first quarter of 2014) in view of all these challenges that must be addressed,” Ms Amadi told Knight Frank, the property managers.

The Registrar has also cancelled the construction of a Sh691 million High Court building at Kapsowar in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

Internal judiciary correspondence indicates that the tender was awarded despite the fact that the Judiciary did not have land to build the courthouse.

“Therefore, the contractor has not taken possession of the site and this contract is not likely to be executed as planned,” Ms Amadi said in a letter dated April 10 to the Chief Justice.

She also rejected a proposal to vary the contract and move the court to a different site saying it contravenes Section 47(b) of the Public Procurement Act.

Earlier this month, the Registrar revealed that Sh46.4 million had been paid to a contractor and consultants to build a court in Mavoko, which does not exist one year later.

More shocking was the revelation by KENAO that Sh53 million had been spent on leasing metal detectors and underbelly view mirrors at Sh4.7 million per month to boost security. The courts were leasing each metal detector at Sh18,000 and the mirrors at Sh24,000 each per month, when they retailed at Sh12,000 and Sh14,000 in the shops.

The auditors also want to establish why nine contractors were paid Sh300 million before they could instal IT equipment in the Judiciary. It is against government financial regulations to pre-finance contractors.

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The courts also spent nearly Sh500 million on items which had not been budgeted for such as prefabrication of law courts and partitioning of Elgon Place.

The Judicairy did not immediately reply to an email inquiry sent to the Chief Jusitce and Chief Registrar on whether they had responded to the queries raised by the auditors.

The audit has been linked to the suspension of Deputy Chief Registrar Kakai Kissinger, Director of Human Resource and Administration Dismas Opondo, Director, Supply Chain Management Martin Okwata and Director, Information Communication Technology Tom Atak early this month.

Dr Mutunga, in ordering the interdiction, said it was to avoid conflict of interest as investigations into procurement, court construction, recruitment and promotion among other issues continued.

“In order to preclude the perception of conflict of interest in the course of these inquiries (into procurement, recruitment and promotions), the Chief Justice -- being satisfied that the public interest requires that an officer should cease forthwith to exercise the powers and functions of their office – has interdicted four officials as provided for under the Third Schedule, Section 16, of the Judicial Service Act,” said Ms Amadi in a statement.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has been investigating the “legality, regularity, prudence and probity of actions undertaken by judicial staff at various levels of responsibility” since the sacking of Mrs Shollei.

Dr Mutunga said the officers were sent home to protect public resources while strengthening the Judiciary’s capacity to deliver value for money.
The four officers have been ordered to report back to the Chief Registrar on May 3, 2014, for further instructions.