The Nairobi Governor has been fighting hard to seal loopholes at the City Hall used by cartels to rob Kenyans, something that has not gone down well with the cartels. In Nairobi, things have been tough because of these cartels.
However, Sonko has continued to protest the manner in which corruption cases in the country are undertaken. The Nairobi governor alleges that there is no corruption of yesterday and today.
In his latest query, Sonko questions:
Why the case of Ugandan Embassy scandal has not been taken up and yet it is blatant theft of public money?
Why is corruption and theft by some senior Government officials is being downplayed?
Why are smart thieves in government being spared? Why should one be allowed to stay in office to use a confidential budget to pay editors and bloggers to fight those who want him to account for theft of public money?
The governor was protesting against Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho who was summoned by members of Parliament over the acquisition of a Sh650 million property in Uganda in 2014, a case wheich has since gone under water since then.
“I insist that Karanja Kibicho should be held to account for the theft of public funds when he was Foreign Affairs PS where he bought Ugandan Embassy Land for Ksh. 650 Million while it was valued at Ksh. 250 Million making away with a cool Ksh. 400 Million of public money. This matter was raised by Auditor General and was investigated by PAC Committee and prosecution recommended.”
The Chancery building located in Kololo, Kampala, houses the Kenyan High Commission and was acquired at the time Dr Kibicho served as the Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary.
Ms Amina Mohamed, now the Sports boss, was the Cabinet secretary.
Dr Kibicho is expected to explain to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee why the ministry opted for the highest bid instead of a lower one of Sh250 million.
Kibicho was tasked to disclose why the ministry overshot the Sh400 million budget allocated for the acquisition of a residence for the High Commission at a time the ministry was experiencing financial constraints.
Interestingly, when the ministry wrote to the National Treasury requesting for more funds, the request was granted without a fight.
The officer appraised the property at Sh600 million for the highest bid and Sh200 million for the lowest bid.
According to the 2014/15 financial year report by Auditor General Edward Ouko, the Foreign Affairs ministry committed the millions to purchase the property against the advice of a technical committee it put in place to help with the process.
This means that had the ministry been guided by the committee’s report, it would have bought the property at Sh200 million, saving taxpayers millions.
The team submitted to the ministry final bids of Sh250 million, Sh362 million, Sh365 million, Sh385 million, Sh395 million, Sh550 million and Sh650 million.
More importantly, the committee had indicated that the lowest bid had passed technical and financial evaluation as required by the Public Procurement and Disposal Act.
“Why the ministry would go for the highest bidder is a question Kibicho has never answered.
Sonko said President Kenyatta is committed to fighting graft, especially in the recent case where 48 suspects were arraigned in court over the missing billions at the National Youth Service.