I only received Sh60m from Josephine Kabura, says John Kago

MPs are baffled at how a key suspect in the National Youth Service scandal received more than Sh346 million and continued to work as driver.

John Kago continued to work at Kenya Commercial Bank, earning Sh15,000 a month, even after acquiring the immense wealth, almost half of the Sh971 million looted at the NYS.

“I am a driver at KCB, but I am on suspension and half salary due to the NYS scandal in which my name has been mentioned," Mr Kago told the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday.

Mr Kago’s modest looks could easily deceive anyone meeting him for the first time.

He, however, owns a fleet of luxury motor vehicles, including a top-end Range Rover that set him back Sh23 million, a Mercedes Benz, Toyota Land Cruiser and a Toyota Fielder, all of which he uses in his car-hire business.

His narrative that he started as a taxi driver and saved enough money in a merry-go-round to start importing second-hand vehicles from Japan also did not add up, given his massive wealth.

According to a special audit by the Auditor-General, Mr Kago received Sh346 million from key suspects Josephine Kabura and Ben Gethi.

SH60 MILLION

However, Mr Kago told the committee, chaired by Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo, that he received only Sh60 million from Ms Kabura and denied ever meeting Mr Gethi either “personally or businesswise”.

Mr Gumbo warned him that he would be declared a hostile witness if he lied to the committee as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had corroborated information contained in the audit that he received Sh156 million from Ms Kabura and Sh130 million from Mr Gethi.

However, Mr Kago stood his ground and accused a detective who gave the information showing the money was deposited into his accounts at Family Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank of fabrication.

“It was a conspiracy to fix me,” he said.

Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki wanted to know how Ms Kabura came to “loan” Mr Kago Sh60 million with just a written agreement, indicating he was to repay it at 10 per cent interest per month and signed by a lawyer but without the borrower’s signature.

Mr Kago said he had known Ms Kabura, whose three firms received Sh791 million to build a 3.5km road in Kibera, Nairobi, for one and a half years. He described her as a friend.

'GREENER PASTURES'

The 58-year-old Kago, who said he left his job as an accounts clerk “in search of greener pastures” as a driver, is alleged to have used the Sh130 million from Mr Gethi to buy property for the businessman’s mother, Charity Wangui.

Mr Gumbo directed Mr Kago to provide the committee with his bank statements from 2013 to establish whether he had indeed received the Sh346 million from the two suspects, details of all his properties and registration numbers for his fleet of vehicles.

The committee had also directed him to surrender the Range Rover to the Assets Recovery Agency, saying it was bought with proceeds of crime.

Mr Kago said he had not yet surrendered the vehicle and told the PAC that it had been hired out to someone in Nairobi at Sh40,000 per day but was not in use after “reports went out that anyone seen driving the vehicle would be shot dead by police”.

He was given until Monday to hand over the car.