Former powerful Devolution CS Anne Waiguru yesterday took the NYS scandal to the doorstep of Deputy President William Ruto.
Appearing before MPs, she named Ruto's aide as a key figure in the NYS heist and said he had 150 calls with suspect Ben Gethi at the time of the scandal.
She also named key Ruto ally Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen as another important figure with many contacts with businessman Gethi.
She put up a spirited defence of her own role, saying she was a blameless whistle-blower.
The seven-and-a-half hour session was contentious in the morning and Waiguru asked for assurance she was not the target of a witch-hunt.
MPs are probing theft of an initial Sh791 million; that figure was raised to at least Sh1.67 billion by the Auditor General.
Waiguru sensationally claimed the "cartel linked to Gethi" had spent Sh200 million to destroy her reputation.
"We have already established some Sh200 million was used to ensure I am kicked out of government and spent in the media and social media, and it is still being used today," Waiguru told the House Public Accounts Committee in a seven-and-half hour session.
Expert comment:
She added a Twitter trend, #HangWaiguru, had been paid for on Wednesday night and was being pushed by university students.
The claim of spending money to get Waiguru out of office is not new. It was one reason Ruto Chief of Staff Marianne Kaittany lost her job.
Kaittany was accused of diverting and was questioned by the EACC for allegedly diverting Sh100 million for the impeachment of Waiguru.
The EACC report tabled by President Uhuru Kenyatta in Parliament alleged Kaittany "diverted Sh100 million from the Legislative and Inter-Governmental Relations Office to mobilise MPs in the abortive campaign in July 2014 to impeach powerful Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru".
The impeachment motion was sponsored by Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi but he withdrew it after State House allegedly intervened.
Waiguru resigned in November 2015 at the height of the scandal, claiming ill health. She is running for governor of Kirinyaga.
Before the PAC, she repeated that she was the whistle-blower on the Sh791 million.
Waiguru blamed the NYS scandal on an intricate network involving influential politicians.
She said junior staff were instructed by NYS management to exaggerate and inflate costs in the Integrated Financial Management System (Ifmis), leading to theft of Sh791 million.
In a scathing attack on former NYS Director General Nelson Githinji, Waiguru said staff colluded and manipulated Ifmis entries, resulting in irregular payments to companies owned by Josephine Kabura.
"I have never met one Josephine Kabura," said a combative Waiguru. Clearly Kabura is a puppet. Who is her puppeteer? Everything she is asked, she says Anne Waiguru." She said she had no contact with her as a contractor or on a personal level.
Kabura is alleged to be the chief conduit in the theft. She faces money laundering and fraud charges.
The Sh1.67 billion allegedly was paid to 20 companies owned by Kabura from NYS, the Department of Planning and the Ministry of Housing.
Waiguru tabled CID documents suggesting Gethi, Githinji, Murkomen, Kabura, sacked Planning PS Peter Mangiti and Farouk Kibet — the DP's aide — were in constant communication during the fraud.
Tabled in Parliament: A web of cartel tracked using phone records that indicted DP Ruto's aide Farouk Kibet
Committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo asked how she accessed the privileged documents, police property. “I got them through a friend," Waiguru said. "The documents were circulating even in the internet. If you want them you can get them,” Waiguru said.
Waiguru cited an instance in which Kabura's Form Home Builders on December 22, 2014, was paid Sh15.5 million instead of Sh1.5 million
She defended her decision to seek an additional Sh3.5 billion supplementary budget, saying it was needed because NYS was expanded from 4,000 to 20,000 recruits and its mandate was expanded.
"It was normal for a minister to request a supplementary budget," she said.
Appearing before the committee on Wednesday, Mang’iti said the extra budget was Waiguru’s brainchild and it did not originate in NYS. He indicated it was part of the scam.
Waiguru could not convince the committee NYS required the amount after she failed to table an official requisition letter.
She put up a spirited defense on her decisions and roles in the former giant ministry. She argued with MPs who questioned her submissions that appeared to exonerate some staff and blame others.
Waiguru defended her decision to deploy Adan Harakhe as Senior Deputy Director General of NYS, although the PSC had refused to establish a position for him.
She rejected claims that she personally head-hunted Harakhe for questionable deployment to NYS.
She blamed sacked NYS Director General Nelson Githinji, saying he oversaw the theft of Sh791 million.
“Githinji was the AIE [Authority to Incur Expenses] holder when Sh791 was stolen. When Harakhe was made AIE holder, money had already been stolen but we managed to avert further loss of Sh695 million,” Waiguru said.
She said a senior deputy DG at NYS was needed to take charge of administration and finances at the height of a scandal in which construction of a 3.5 kilometer road in Kibera was inflated to Sh700 million.
The former CS came under fire when she tabled contradicting documents, indicating Githinji was solely responsible for the grand heist. But she failed to indicate Harakhe was alternate AIE holder at the same time.
Harakhe was appointed the AIE holder on February 19, 2015, and designated to Ifmis on February 24, 2015, after Githinji’s designation was revoked on February 20.
“Githinji continued to have illegal access to the Ifmis system to approve payments up to May 20, 2015, during which the money was lost,” she said.
“Why are you picking on Githinji and not Harakhe, given that he was also designated as AIE holder in February. That is not factual presentation ... The document is inadmissible,” ruled committee chairman Nicholas Gumbo.
“All the presentations you have made lack merit. You could have told the committee in the same month both Harakhe and Githinji were designated AIE holders," Suba MP John Mbadi said.
“You have gone ahead and exonerated Harakhe and made him appear clean and that he did not know anything.”
Waiguru was forced to withdraw the document after pressure over an apparent attempt to indict Githinji.
“The IFMIS system is fed with data, you have to literally take the Local Purchase Order and key in the figures. What happened is that on Kabura they consistently added a zero,” she said.
This means Kabura’s companies earned 10 times more in excess in every payment, a scheme that easily passed seven verification stages of the online payment platform.
“There are stages even for the internal auditor to intervene, but that did not happen because they were colluding,” she said.
Marakwet MP Kagongo Bowen, an IT expert who worked at the Treasury with Ifmis, said the Ifmis budget module has loopholes that can aid fraud because it has no breakdown to capture single budget items.
“The system only has total budget ceilings.This can allow inflation."
Kabura, the former hairdresser now described as an IT expert, told the committee on Tuesday she knew Waiguru in 2012. She said Waiguru introduced her to NYS, facilitated registration of 20 companies and ensured she got tenders. She was paid Sh1.6 billion.
“I saw you on TV with protective gear personally supervising the works in Kibera. Are you telling this committee you never had an opportunity to see Kabura who was a key supplier of the works,” asked South Mugirango MP Manson Nyamweya.
“The information we have before this committee is that Kabura has come to your house,” said Nyamira Woman Representative Alice Chae.
Waiguru said Kabura’s sworn affidavit had been established to contain false allegations by the DIC and the DPP has approved charges of perjury.
The former CS denied she established a parallel management system run by advisers, personal assistants and lieutenants, isolating PS Mangiti.
She denied that she single-sourced Consulting House, owned by political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi, saying she found Ngunyi already working as a government consultant.
Read: