Governor grilled on purchase of Sh35m vehicle

Tana River Governor Hussein Dado was on Thursday quizzed by anti-corruption commission detectives over the purchase of an armoured vehicle.

Mr Dado was interrogated for three hours on the second-hand Hummer he bought at Sh35 million.

The detectives wanted to know whether the governor breached any procurement rules in the purchase of the vehicle.

Sources at Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) told the Saturday Nation that the vehicle is registered in the governor’s name.

“It is clear to us that procurement rules were broken in the purchase of the vehicle,” a source said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the EACC .

The commission’s Senior Corporate Communications Officer Pamela Chepkemei confirmed that the governor was interrogated by EACC detectives.

“The governor was summoned here yesterday and questioned over the purchase of the vehicle. He recorded a statement,” she said.

Tana River county has been under scrutiny lately over wasteful spending.

In the last financial year, the county government spent Sh242.5 million on domestic and foreign travel, which accounted for 54 per cent of the annual operation and maintenance expenditure.

This was nearly four times more than the Sh67 million it had spent on domestic and foreign travel in the previous financial year.

Of the money, the county executive used Sh195 million on travel and allowances.