Raila wants Waiguru to explain links to NYS scam

Former Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning Anne Waiguru. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Bora Global was paid Sh167 million for supplying foodstuffs, including green grams and powdered milk.
  • Mr Odinga also wants Ms Waiguru to disclose whether she acquired any investments in real estate.
  • He also wants Ms Waiguru to disclose her bank accounts and the amount of money in each account.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga now wants former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru to explain her links to one of the beneficiaries of millions of shillings from the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal.

In an affidavit signed on his behalf by his lawyer, Paul Mwangi, Mr Odinga wants to know Ms Waiguru’s association with one of the directors of a company said to have benefited from the NYS billions.

“During your tenure as the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Devolution and Planning did you know a person by the name Maria Blessing Nyambura Ng’ang’a? What was the nature of your knowledge and interaction with the said person?

Was the said person known or associated to any of your aides?” reads the affidavit dated February 15.

Ms Ng’ang’a has previously been listed as one of the three directors of a company that pocketed Sh40 million for supplying powdered milk to the para-military institution at the height of the scandal.

The firm, Bora Global Ltd, was among several private companies listed in a letter from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to the Devolution Ministry questioning the payments of hundreds of millions.

SUPPLYING POWDERED MILK

Documents showed that the firm received a total of Sh40 million from NYS on May 15, 2015, for supplying powdered milk to the NYS.

Bora Global Ltd was registered on October 31, 2013, with Ms Ng’ang’a, Wilson Waihenya Ngima and Julius Muvea Muinde listed as directors.

Another company trading as Bora Global was paid Sh167 million for supplying foodstuffs, including green grams and powdered milk.

When CBK wrote the letter, the then Devolution and Planning ministry Principal Secretary Peter Mangiti responded by writing to then NYS Director-General Nelson Githinji over the issue.

“We are in receipt of an email from CBK requesting that we clarify the purpose for these payments and whether the goods have been supplied to the ministry,” said a letter sent to Githinji on May 29, 2015 and signed by Francis Kariuki for the PS.

“We are unable to reply to these issues since we only receive processed payments vouchers from your end. Please liaise with the head of supplies chain management for them to clarify on these issues and reply to us urgently to enable CBK to release the money to the beneficiaries using the NYS letterhead,” the letter said.

DIRECT HAND IN SCANDAL

By demanding that Ms Waiguru discloses her knowledge of or association with Ms Ng’ang’a, Mr Odinga seeks to establish the former CS’s direct hand in the scandal.

Ms Waiguru has consistently defended herself against claims that she had a direct role in the scandal.

Over time, Ms Waiguru has been able to shake off the scandal and emerge as a frontrunner in the race for the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat.

In the affidavit, Mr Odinga also wants Ms Waiguru to state the basic salary she earned while serving in the Kibaki and Kenyatta governments between 2006 and November 2015 when she resigned over the NYS scandal.

The information should cover Ms Waiguru’s stint as the director of the much-maligned Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis), the Head of the Economic Stimulus Programme, the head of governance at Treasury and as technical adviser to the government.

Mr Odinga also wants Ms Waiguru to disclose whether she acquired any investments in real estate during the period and whether she traded in any shares at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. He also wants Ms Waiguru to disclose her bank accounts and the amount of money in each account.

Mr Odinga also wants the former CS to disclose whether she has foreign accounts and, if so, in which countries.

He also wants her to state her average monthly personal expenditure and whether she has any dependants, and how much she spends on each.