Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki has been thrust into the morphing NYS saga, with documents showing he received Sh500,000 from a law firm associated with Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.
According to bank statements, Sing’oei Murkomen & Sigei Advocates paid the Senate majority leader the money on August 25 last year through Cooperative Bank account number 2020162800.
Hillary Sigei, the managing partner of the law firm, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee probing the more than Sh1.6 billion scandal, but failed to explain why the money was wired to Kindiki.
But Kindiki told the Star it was a debt that Murkomen was paying back.
“Murkomen and I are close political and personal friends. We have borrowed money from each other over the years. He borrowed Sh500,000 from me and paid me back through his firm’s cheque. I hope that clarifies the matter,” he said.
Law firm queried on NYS scandal
The law firm is being interrogated over Sh15 million it received from Out of the Box Solutions—a company at the centre of the NYS probe—over a Sh302 million irregular deal with the Devolution ministry.
Out of the Box Solutions is associated with former media personality Angela Angwenyi. It won a lucrative tender allegedly to conduct sensitisation campaigns targeting women, youth and people with disability.
Yesterday, the law firm admitted it received Sh15 million from Out of the Box Solutions for the purchase of land in Eldoret on behalf of a client as part of its professional work.
“The firm received the money in the course of its professional work, including any business for which a client can engage the services of a lawyer,” the managing partner told the committee.
However, Sigei did not produce a land purchase agreement, valuation report and a search document to authenticate the transaction, raising concerns of possible complacency.
Huge transactions
The firm’s Cooperative Bank account was credited with Sh8 million and another Sh7 million wired to an account at Family Bank, all paid by Out of the Box Solutions on August 20 last year.
But the bank statements show that the law firm immediately on the same day wired the Sh8 million received at the Cooperative Bank to Kigen & Company Advocates, allegedly the handling law firm for the seller of the parcel of land in Eldoret.
Sigei said the law firm paid Sh13 million for the land on behalf of Out of the Box Solutions, but could not account for the Sh2 million balance left. He tabled the title deed.