Serious Fraud Office asks for Kenya help on Smith & Ouzman case
Electoral workers collect “Yes” votes that were cast at a polling station in Eldoret on August 4, 2010, during the referendum on the Constitution. FILE PHOTO |
What you need to know:
- Court documents show that the Kenyan taxpayer paid dearly for the illicit dealings.
- For many of the printing contracts, costs were inflated by up to 38 per cent, mainly to cater for the kickbacks.
A UK government agency has requested Kenya to assist in its prosecution of managers of a British firm accused of influencing top officials of the electoral commission to award it tenders worth millions of shillings.
The Serious Fraud Office also wants Kenya to facilitate the acquisition of information regarding a multi-million-shilling tender to print certificates for the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), said a top government source.
“Formal requests for both cases were made for assistance and the office concerned (Directorate of Public Prosecutions) has been working on it. They are seeking local information to assist in the case,” said the source on the phone.
ELECTORAL MATERIALS
However, DPP Keriako Tobiko said he was not aware of any investigations regarding bribery claims against electoral commission officials in awarding the contract for printing electoral materials to Smith & Ouzman (S&O).
“I have not received any information regarding investigations into the contract. I am also reading it in the media that officials of the company were charged in a UK court,” he said.
Mr Tobiko added that he did not know if the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) was investigating the matter.
He said he would take up the matter in the event that the EACC forwards him the file.
EACC chairman Mumo Matemu told the Nation that the commission had been working on “something” in relation to the matter and would not comment on matters currently in court.
“We cannot comment on matters in the UK. However, we are keenly following the happenings there. That will also help us in what we are doing here,” Mr Matemu told the Nation by telephone.
They were responding to revelations that senior managers and commissioners in the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) pocketed millions of shillings in bribes to award lucrative printing contracts to S&O over two years, prosecution documents filed in a London court show.
In a legal battle that has exposed one of the best documented cases of an international corruption network in Kenya’s history, the UK prosecutors have filed in court loads of written evidence implicating senior election officials in the corruption ring.
The officials include Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Issack Hassan.
INFLATED COSTS
Court documents show that the Kenyan taxpayer paid dearly for the illicit dealings between senior S&O officials and senior managers and commissioners in the IIEC, putting to shame local prosecutors and the anti-corruption agency officials who have yet to nail anyone for the offences.
“The scale of the corruption alleged by the prosecution is worth £349,057.39 (Sh50 million) in Kenya,” prosecutor Mark Bryant-Heron says in documents filed in court.
For many of the printing contracts, costs were inflated by up to 38 per cent, mainly to cater for the kickbacks — commonly referred to in the mails as “chicken” — to senior election officials, say the UK prosecutors.
On Tuesday, the EACC said it would keenly follow the happenings in the UK court investigating claims that IIEC and Knec officials received millions of shillings from S&O agents.
Others implicated in the scandal are Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and former Judiciary Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei.
