• Kikwai is accused of occasioning loss of millions due to her negligence
• PIC chairman Abdulswamad Nassir directs Deputy Governor to refund money
Image: FILE
Past decisions came to haunt Kericho Deputy Governor Susan Kikwai as MPs directed she pays Sh10 million for a contract she approved as the Kenya Investment Authority boss.
Kikwai, who paired with Governor Paul Chepkwony to win the Kericho governor race, gave a Sh27,000 job consultancy to a local firm but failed to pay the consultant.
In the 2011 contract, Kikwai went further to sign an additional clause that would see the authority pay the contractor three per cent interest per month if they defaulted in payment.
Kikwai is accused of occasioning the loss of millions due to her negligence in okaying the contract that had a detrimental clause on it.
Documents tabled before the National Assembly Public Investment Committee show the authority failed to pay the money that was due on January 8, 2011 and has been accruing monthly interest as per the terms of the contract.
On Tuesday, PIC chairman Abdulswamad Nassir directed the deputy governor to refund the money, which has become part of the authority’s audit query.
Auditor General Edward Ouko had in his 2014-15 flagged the transaction, which even the Inspectorate of Companies said was irregular.
The inspectorate ruled that Kikwai be surcharged.
“The supplier took the matter to court and was awarded an amount of Sh6,316,581, which attracted an interest of Sh55,137 on May 10, 2015 , Sh 300,000 billed in respect of auctioneers and further Sh2, 884,259 paid as final settlement of the case, all totaling Sh9,200,840, which excludes Sh 696,000 legal fees by the Authority’s contracted lawyers,” Ouko said in his report.
“Further, there was delay on the part of the Authority in issuing instructions to its lawyers on the next cause of action after being reminded that the interest was accruing hence total bill escalated to Sh 10,251,977. The Authority also failed to heed the advice of its lawyers that an appeal of the case was bound to fail on June 18, 2013 and further advice from Attorney General on October 11 2013.”
The Auditor General had advised the Authority to seek an out of court settlement since chances of getting a favourable judgment were next to nil.
Authority CEO, Moses Ikiara, informed the committee that they have already invited the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the matter and help in recovering the funds.
“The Authority wrote to Kikwai on September 27, 2018 demanding the total amount. On April 29, 2019, the Authority sent a letter to the EACC. We are following up with the EACC on their response to guide on the next action,” Ikiara said.