Charity Ngilu and Felix Koskei reprieve as some charges dropped

Cabinet secretaries Charity Ngilu and Felix Koskei were on Monday on course to be cleared of corruption charges after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission recommended that Ms Ngilu’s file be closed and Mr Koskei be made a witness.

However, their two colleagues, Mr Michael Kamau and Mr Kazungu Kambi, are likely to face abuse of office charges, a move that could mark the end of their tenure as Cabinet secretaries.

Should that happen, Mr Kamau and Mr Kambi could become the first CSs to lose their jobs since the Jubilee Alliance took government after the March 2013 General Election.

Mr Kamau’s and Mr Koskei’s fates will now be in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko, who will decide whether there is enough evidence to take them to court.

The commission’s chief executive officer, Mr Halakhe Waqo, on Monday submitted files on the four top officials to Mr Tobiko, with recommendations that allegations against Mrs Ngilu, the Lands and Urban Planning CS, and Mr Koskei, the CS for Agriculture, be dropped.

However, he also recommended that Mr Kamau and Mr Kambi be tried for abuse of office.

Mr Tobiko said he would study the files and make “a decision shortly”, signalling the possibility of a high profile public officer being prosecuted for corruption. The DPP has the discretion to either authorise the prosecution or reject the commission’s recommendations.

A fifth CS, Mr Davis Chirchir of Energy, is still being investigated.

EACC recommended that allegations against Mr Koskei — that he leased out land belonging to Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute (Kevevapi) at Tigoni and ploughed 100 acres where he planted potatoes — be dropped.

SECRET SUGAR PERMITS

“No charges recommended against the CS. CS listed as witness. Managing director of Kevevapi and head of supply chain management recommended to be charged,” says the EACC brief sent to Mr Tobiko.

However, Mr Koskei is still being investigated over alleged secret allocation of permits to some sugar importers who, as a result, benefited without going through the open tendering system. The award of the permits also went against procurement laws and the policy under the Comesa rules.

Mrs Ngilu was also found not culpable on the Waitiki land sale in Mombasa, over which she was accused of colluding with her ministry’s valuers and the landowner, Mr Evanson Waitiki, to defraud the government of Sh110 million by inflating the price of the land. The land was to be used to settle squatters.

On Monday, Mr Waqo said Mrs Ngilu was still under investigation for alleged fraud concerning a piece of land on State House Crescent.

She is also being investigated on claims that she was among top government officials and politicians involved in the irregular allocation of a 134-acre piece of land in Karen belonging to Mr Horatius Da Gama Rose.

Mr Kambi was under investigation over allegations that he made irregular appointments to the NSSF board and he irregularly authorised infrastructure projects on the Sh5 billion Tassia housing project.

On Monday, Mr Kambi said: “It is now for Tobiko to decide and I know he is a professional.”

Mr Kamau had been accused of awarding a clearing and forwarding contract to one company for 14 years. The firm, Land Mark Clearing and Forwarding, was tasked with undertaking clearing 80 per cent of Mombasa port cargo imported by the Chinese company contracted to build the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway.

CORRUPTION DOSSIER

Should they be taken to court as recommended by the EACC, Mr Kambi and Mr Kamau could become the first high profile individuals to be arraigned in court after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed in March that EACC carry out investigations against 175 officials named in its corruption dossier.

The commission had been given 60 days to complete the investigations. The deadline expired on Sunday. However, the commission has asked for more time because most of the cases are yet to be conclusively investigated. President Kenyatta had ordered those named in the report to step aside to let EACC conduct proper investigations.

“Let me reiterate that it is not my place to determine the guilt or otherwise of any of the people mentioned in the said report or any other,” Mr Kenyatta had said. “However, the time has come to send a strong signal to the country that my administration will accept nothing less than the highest standard of integrity from those that hold high office.”

Besides the CSs, the report had also adversely mentioned four principal secretaries.

They, too, were suspended. They are Mr Mutea Iringo (Defence), Mr Nduva Muli (Transport), Mr Patrick Omutia (Mining) and Mr James Teko (Water). Investigations into their cases are yet to be concluded.