• Henry Rotich and Kamau Thugge accused of inflating loan for construction of two dams by Sh17 billion.
• DPP also ordered the arrest of 26 high-ranking ministry officers, several officials of Kerio Valley Development Authority.
Operations at the National Treasury came to a halt yesterday after the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji ordered the arrest of two top officials over the Kimwarer and Arror dams scandal.
Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge are accused of inflating a commercial loan for the construction of the two dams in Kerio Valley by Sh17 billion.
"Whereas the project was to cost approximately Sh46 billion, the Treasury negotiated a commercial facility increasing the amount to approximately Sh63 billion which is Sh17 billion more than necessary," Haji said.
He said Treasury entered into a facility contract in Euros while the commercial contracts were in US Dollars, therefore, occasioning further loss to the government through exchange rates.
The DPP also ordered the arrest of 26 high-ranking ministry officers, several officials of Kerio Valley Development Authority and sacked managing director Kipchumba Kimosop.
THIS MAN HENRY ROTICH
Coincidentally, CS Treasury Henry Rotich hails from Kimwarer, Keiyo South, in Elgeyo-Marakwet. He attended Fluorspar Primary School before joining Saint Joseph's High School for his secondary school studies.
Rotich, who is serving his sixth year at the helm of the Treasury joined the University of Nairobi in 1989 for a Bachelors Degree in Economics and graduated with a First Class Honours and a Masters Degree in the same field in 1993.
He started his career as a junior economist at the Central Bank of Kenya in 1994 and later took a role as a lead economist at the International Monetary Fund's local office in Nairobi in 2004.
He later joined the Treasury where he rose through the ranks to become head of macroeconomics before being tapped by President Uhuru Kenyatta for the CS slot when the Jubilee administration came to power in 2013.
ACCUMULATED MOST DEBT
Although he is credited for initiating several projects at the Exchequer, including the Integrated Financial Management Information System(Ifmis) launched in 2014, Rotich who also graduated with a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, has not had a smooth ride.
For instance, he will go down in history as the man who oversaw rampant borrowing in Kenya.
The draft Budget Review and Outlook Paper for the medium-term plan 2019-2023 released in January shows Kenya’s debt will jump to nearly Sh7.17 trillion in the year ending June 2022, from nearly Sh5.4 trillion.
This means, he has captained at least Sh3.51 billion in the past six years and will have contracted at least Sh5.27 trillion debt by 2022, if Uhuru retains him at Treasury from Sh1.89 trillion he inherited in 2013.
OVERSEEN MOST GRAFT
Despite being in control of more than Sh10 trillion since 2013, Rotich just like his predecessors, has had to face a growing rate of corruption cases that have seen billion of funds disappearing, hence, weakening economic growth.
The twin National Youth Service scandals where Kenya lost almost Sh30 billion (Sh20 billion in 2014-15 and Sh9 billion in 20017-18) happened during his tenure.
Other major scandals witnessed include the misuses of Sh2 billion in the National Cereals and Produce Board, Sh180 million Youth Fund scandal, Sh24.6 billion school laptop scandal after the Public Procurement and Administrative Review Board found that the tender award to an Indian firm Olive telecommunications was questionable, among others.
Owing to the rising scandals, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared publicly in 2015 that corruption had become a national security threat.
One year later, the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission revealed that the country is losing a third of its state budget - the equivalent of about $6 billion (Sh608 billion) - to corruption every year.
KAMAU THUGGE
Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge has spent almost 10 years at the National Treasury.
Prior to his appointment as Principal Secretary, he worked as a senior economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance from the year 2010.
He was the head of the Fiscal and Monetary Affairs Department, Treasury between 2004 to 2005, and the Economic Secretary and Head of Economic Affairs Department, Treasury between 2005 and 2008.
He represents Treasury on several boards including the Central Bank of Kenya, the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBK, the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Capital Markets Authorities, Kenya Airways and National Bank of Kenya among others.
He had worked at the International Monetary Fund in various capacities for over 21 years before joining the government.
Thugge holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from Colorado College, USA; a Masters Degree in Economics from John Hopkins University, USA; and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Economics also from John Hopkins University.