British help sought in ‘chicken’ scam

The anti-corruption agency has written to Britain’s Serious Fraud Office, seeking evidence to show that top election officials received bribes to influence a tender.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Deputy CEO Michael Mubea said no name was edited out of a report presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta in March, in which 175 government officials were named over corruption cases.

On Friday, Cord leader Raila Odinga demanded Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru and EACC Chairman Isaack Hassan be relieved of their duties due to the magnitude of the scandals they have been linked to.

“There are no sacred cows. Everything will be done procedurally since we are guided by integrity and fidelity to the law. We cannot be intimidated by political statements since we are a professional body and an independent one in this case,” said Mr Mubea.

While defending the commission against claims that Mr Hassan’s name was edited out of the corruption report, Mr Mubea said the commission last week wrote to the SFO, seeking evidence for the bribery claims.

“Claims that some names were removed from the list do not hold water. His name (Mr Hassan’s) was mentioned abroad. That’s why we have sought assistance from the UK. I even spoke to them today (Friday). Once we receive the evidence we have requested, we will make progress from there,” said Mr Mubea.

Mr Hassan was mentioned in a UK court as having received bribes when he was the boss of the now defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC).

Mr Hassan and other officials are accused of being involved in the scandal involving payment of Sh50 million bribes, code-named “chicken” in emails, between October 1, 2008, and December 31, 2010.

On Ms Waiguru’s case, Mr Mubea said the commission could not summon her since it does not have anything against her yet.

“When we received the report on the Ifmis (Integrated Financial Management Information System) scandal, there were no suspects. Investigations are being carried out and names will start appearing. If there will be need for her (Ms Waiguru) to record a statement, we will summon her and if implicated, she will have to face the law,” Mr Mubea told the Nation.

“It is alleged that there was non-adherence to procurement procedures ... most notably in the budget system project and implementation of additional components of the financial management system,” says the report.

Ifmis was launched in 2011 to streamline procurement services and payments for the sake of accountability in expenditure by government departments.

Mr Mubea said significant progress was being made in the war on corruption. He said so far, more than 120 individuals named in the report tabled in Parliament, had been charged.

Besides Mr Hassan, other top officials who were adversely mentioned in the UK court include suspended Energy Cabinet secretary Davis Chirchir and former IEBC chief executive James Oswago.