Graft revelations at State agencies shift spotlight to alternative board members
What you need to know:
- The ongoing parliamentary investigation on the loss of money at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund has once again raised questions on the extent of involvement of alternate representatives on the boards. These representatives are usually senior officers standing in for the Principal Secretary.
- The Public Investment Committee (PIC) has so far heard evidence on the loss of at least Sh180 million, which was paid for fictitious ICT consultancy work from a Chase Bank account to Quorandrum Ltd.
Recent revelations of corruption in various State agencies have shifted the spotlight to board members who represent the National Treasury and various parent ministries.
The ongoing parliamentary investigation on the loss of money at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund has once again raised questions on the extent of involvement of alternate representatives on the boards. These representatives are usually senior officers standing in for the Principal Secretary.
The Public Investment Committee (PIC) has so far heard evidence on the loss of at least Sh180 million, which was paid for fictitious ICT consultancy work from a Chase Bank account to Quorandrum Ltd.
The bank was recently placed under receivership over separate financial matters. But the opening of an investment account at a commercial bank with Sh400 million without approval as required under the State Corporations Act triggered questions on why the alternate director, Treasury PS Simon Macharia, who has sat at the board for several years, failed to raise the red flag.
To complicate matters, then YEDF chairman Bruce Odhiambo was said to have unilaterally appointed CEO Catherine Namuye, who is currently on suspension, as the sole signatory to the account.
Early this week, President Uhuru Kenyatta sacked the YEDF chairman, along with other board members.
The parent ministry of Youth Affairs, which was until last year a directorate in the Devolution ministry, is also under scrutiny after questions emerged on whether its board representative, Mr Timothy Gakuo, properly briefed his seniors on suspicious activities at the fund.
This is after his former bosses — then Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru and PS Peter Mangiti — told the committee they learnt of the suspected loss too late.
Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua admitted before the National Assembly committee that Mr Odhiambo was a non-executive chairman and it was illegal for him to make the former chief executive the sole signatory of the account through which Sh180 million is alleged to have been stolen.
He further said Mr Odhiambo was not entitled to the Sh12 million new Toyota Prado vehicle that was bought for his use.
It was more puzzling when Mr Kinyua agreed with the assertion by PIC members that a letter by then Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura barring officials from the Inspectorate of State Corporations from attending board meetings of State corporations, unless invited, was against the law.
He agreed with MPs Kimani Ichung’wa and Mithika Linturi that the circular by Mr Muthaura was contrary to the law on the Inspectorate of State Corporations, which states that the officers should attend the meetings to guide the boards.
This, the MPs said, would have complemented the work of civil servants representing the Treasury and other State agencies who were on the YEDF board.
Mr Kinyua was, however, critical of the Inspectorate of State Corporations, whose weaknesses, he said, informed the creation of the Code of Conduct for State Corporations, dubbed “Mwongozo”.
Lawyer Lempaa Suyinka said the whole set up under the State Corporations Act and the individual laws that govern specific parastatals allows for representatives of the parent ministry and the Treasury, the custodian of the public purse.
