KPA boss Manduku to face court for illegal tender award

Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Daniel Manduku is expected to be in court today (Tuesday) to face charges of unlawfully awarding tenders for the construction of cargo storage facilities at the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD) following his arrest yesterday.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Director George Kinoti said that Mr Manduku was in police custody and that he would be questioned on various matters.

His arrest on Monday came after more than 15 months of investigations over a myriad corruption allegations spiced up with legal drama that had prevented the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from arresting him.

DCI boss George Kinoti told the Nation on Monday evening that the ports boss would be charged with a number of corruption- related crimes.

“We have been investigating so many cases against him but this is a new crime,” said Mr Kinoti.

“He is now in our custody and we shall definitely present him in court,” he said.

FREE MAN

Mr Manduku has been a free man since December last year courtesy of a Sh500,000 anticipatory bail issued by Justice Eric Ogolla at the High Court in Mombasa.

The embattled KPA boss, however, lost in an application that sought to prevent the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) or the DCI from charging him with corruption.

Since then, it has been a matter of when, and not if, Mr Manduku, who is facing a myriad of corruption-related allegations, will finally be taken to court. The DCI had previously said that it had listed up to 22 possible charges against the KPA boss and other senior port managers over alleged irregularities in projects.

However, what is taking Mr Manduku to court is the awarding of two companies to construct peripheral cargo storage facilities on behalf of KPA next to the ICD.

The second accused in the case is the Commissioner Customs and Border Control at Kenya Revenue Authority, Mr Kevin Safari. The two will answer to a total of 11 counts of corruption-related offences linked to the ICD.

BROKE SCANDAL

The Nation in January broke the scandal, detailing how a decision to demand clearance of cargo from Mombasa at the ICD in Nairobi two years ago created a chance for politicians and senior government employees to make a killing from the ensuing congestion.

The congestion, which we established was man-made, forced Treasury to release Sh3 billion for the purchase of an extra piece of land next to the ICD.

KRA, however, on receiving the money, directed it to other projects and opted to lease the extra storage from private companies. In the process several procurement laws were broken.

One of the companies awarded the controversial tenders did not even apply for it when it was floated towards the end of 2018 in the first place.

The second company did not pay for the licence required to operate a peripheral storage facility and only did so after realising the DCI had begun investigations into how the tender was awarded.

According to the charge sheet, seen by the Nation, Mr Manduku and Mr Safari are accused of conspiring to defeat justice by causing the payment of Sh3,166,669 for the KPA peripheral facility licence for the second company in order to correct an illegality.

The first company was unlawfully gazetted as a customs area despite not meeting the laid-down guidelines and did tender hence “disadvantaging seven bidders that were successful in the tender,” says the charge sheet.

ADDITIONAL CHARGE

Mr Safari faces an additional charge of gazetting some specific sections of warehouses belonging to the two firms knowing that they did not exist in the first place.

The KRA commissioner also faces a charge of allowing the second company to operate as a customs area on behalf of the ICD when it did not have a separate entry and exit area at its warehouse.