Nairobi MCAs cleared in Concord Hotel bribery probe
What you need to know:
- A report by the Power and Privileges Committee showed that the evidence presented could not sufficiently link the county legislators to the alleged bribery.
- Committee chair Naftaly Mathenge said that the committee reviewed evidence – newspaper articles and audio recordings – and concluded that there wasn’t any showing Mr Malde receiving the alleged bribe.
- The committee also spoke on allegations that members of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee were bribed to facilitate the award of a tender to AAR Healthcare Limited.
- Mr Mathenge said that no evidence was produced showing the committee members received bribes as alleged in sections of the media.
The Nairobi County assembly has absolved from blame, MCAs alleged to have received bribes to doctor a committee report and save Concord Hotel from demolition.
A report by the Power and Privileges Committee showed that the evidence presented could not sufficiently link the county legislators to the alleged bribery.
In August 2018, it was reported that Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chairman Jayendra Malde had been arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives for allegedly soliciting a Sh5.7 million bribe from Concord proprietor Rahim Chatur.
The bribe was allegedly to be shared among the 19 members of the committee, who would then forestall the demolition of the facility’s gate which was allegedly built on riparian land.
NO PROOF
Committee chair Naftaly Mathenge said that the committee reviewed evidence – newspaper articles and audio recordings – and concluded that there wasn’t any showing Mr Malde receiving the alleged bribe.
In addition, in the absence of expert voice analysis to ascertain the veracity of the recordings, it was not possible for the committee to determine if indeed it was Mr Malde soliciting for the bribe in the audio recording.
“It is difficult to ascertain the extent of involvement of members of the committee in the bribery claims, as no evidence was tabled showing either their direct or indirect involvement, save for media reports linking the larger committee membership to the bribery claims,” Mr Mathenge said.
He also noted that when Mr Chatur appeared before the committee, he said he did not issue any money to anyone on behalf of the committee, and that neither did MCA Malde receive any amount from him.,
Mr Chatur added that when Mr Malde asked him for money, he reported the incident to former Embakasi South MP Irshad Sumra, who took it up.
AAR TENDER
The committee also spoke on allegations that members of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee were bribed to facilitate the award of a tender to AAR Healthcare Limited, while at a retreat in Mombasa with members of the executive.
It was reported in June last year that Utalii MCA Wilson Ochola, a member of the said committee, alleged that his counterparts received a Sh1 million bribe, while in Mombasa in May, to doctor a report in favour of AAR, an insurance firm offering medical cover to City Hall employees.
Mr Mathenge said that no evidence was produced showing the committee members received bribes as alleged in sections of the media.
Furthermore, in the absence of expert voice analysis to ascertain the veracity of recordings, it was not possible to determine that MCA Ochola was the one speaking in the recordings presented before the committee.
“It was equally difficult to ascertain that the voice in the audio recording belonged to George Ochola, former Hospital Ward MCA or Mr Ochola, current Utalii MCA,” said Mr Mathenge.
Mr Ochola, who was alleged to have made the allegations, denied ever hearing such allegations.
The report stated that the MCA said the voice in the recording was only similar to his and that he suspected that someone had tried to mimic it.
“He did not know anything about the AAR tender as it was neither discussed in the committee meetings nor did he personally know anything to do with the company and its business with the county executive,” read the report.
