• The affidavit shows how the companies get tenders without following the law and eventually wire a portion of the monies to the governor's account
• The affidavit is in opposition to Sonko's application that sought to stop corruption investigations against him.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has laid bare schemes Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been using to siphon county cash.
In court papers, the commission details a well-organised, corrupt and audacious network that cost the county millions between June 2017 and February 2019.
The affidavit alleges that the governor has repeatedly had money wired to his numerous bank accounts by different companies that trade with the county.
"Between that time Nairobi City County government was involved in fraud, corruption, irregular procurements, misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest through inconsistent and exaggerated payments made to individuals and proxy companies,” the document reads.
The EACC names Hardi Enterprises, Yiro Enterprises, Jackoy Enterprises, Flexilease Ltd, Acacia Equipment (K) Ltd, Aende Group Ltd and Tusma Trading Company Ltd as used in the scheme.
The companies are cited in a document signed by Simon Cherpka, a forensic investigator at EACC.
Sonko has dashed to court to block EACC from investigating him, the county and all those who have served in his government in senior positions.
But EACC has asked the court to reject Sonko's prayers and allow it to complete its investigations because "the county is engaged in a fraudulent scheme to embezzle public funds".
The commission filed the affidavits — complete with flowcharts showing the links between Sonko and some companies.
Investigations show that the county secretary on May 24 last year commenced a procurement process for garbage collection without request to the Environment department.
He also appointed a negotiation, opening and evaluation committee to process the initiative yet he was "not designated accounting officer ... [hence] usurped the authority of the accounting officer by initiating the subject tender."
"It is notable that the county secretary is an appointee of the governor and his conduct smirks of apparent impunity," the document reads.
The appointed committee met all six prospective bidders on May 25 last year for 'negotiation committee meeting' and gave bidders blank bid documents and the rates to quote for the bids.
The bidders listed include Purlexis Enterprises Limited, Hardi Enterprises Limited, M/S Tusma Trading Company Limited, Acacia Equipment, Bonfide General Contractors Limited and MS Daasanach Construction Limited.
The committee again met on June 4 to "report that all the six bidders had met the evaluation criteria and therefore were responsive and should be awarded the contract."
On June 8, 2018, the head of procurement cleared the award to the six companies.
They were subsequently approved the same day by the county secretary and head of public service, the documents say.
Hardi Enterprises did not submit a VAT certificate, a fact overlooked by the evaluation committee and the subsequent approving bureaucrats.
It got notified of the award the same day and acknowledge the development the following day, June 9.
The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, was, however, not notified in contravention of the law, the document states.
The commission further claimed that between October 11, 2018, and March 13, 2019, Hardi Enterprises received Sh357,390,229.95 from the Sonko administration for collection and disposition of solid waste.
A search by the commission revealed the company is co-owned by Antony Ng'ang'a Mwaura and Rose Njeri Ng'ang'a
It was not immediately clear the relationship between the named co-directors.
Money trail showed that the two had together paid Sh8.6 million to Governor Sonko through his KCB account in April and May 2017 as a campaign contribution, contract and payment of debts.
However, EACC found out that the services for which the hefty payments were made were may have not been rendered.
For example, investigators established that some of the vehicles which Hardi Enterprises claimed payment for garbage collections were saloon cars, vans and motorcycles with no capacity to haul the tonnage of garbage claimed.
Owners of the listed saloon cars, vans and motorcycles told investigators that their machines were never used to collect garbage even as the company received payments in their names.
"Some of the signatures in the timesheets used by Hardi Enterprises Limited to claim payments were forgeries," the document says.
A further money trail showed that during the same period, the company wired Sh55.8 million into the account of Toddy Civil Engineering Company Limited, also owned by the two.
A study of the second company's bank details showed it sent Sh3 million to Sonko's account at Equity bank.
To support the huge payment to Sonko, Toddy Civil Engineering Company Limited produced to the bank a lease agreement it alleges it had with the governor, numbered Kwale/Golini/383.
The purported lease was for the storage of machinery and parking of vehicles.
This was just a decoy, it seems, as a simple verification by the commission disabused the claim.
"Investigations established that the land is inaccessible by road, the terrain is hilly and is covered by bush. The same had never been used for the stated or any other purpose," the affidavit reads.
Moreover, the affidavit alleges that the governor has repeatedly had money wired to his numerous bank accounts by different companies that trade with the county.
"That from analysis of Mike Mbuvi Sonko's account numbers 1580261402765, 1380262333608, 0350299195757 and 0020264389109 at Equity bank, Mike Mbuvi Sonko received monies totalling to Sh27,400,000 from other companies trading with the county," it alleged.
Among them include AMACO Limited which wired Sh17 million through Arbab Auto Limited to his account, Yiro Limited through ROG Security Limited paid him Sh8.4 million and Webtribe Limited paid him Sh2 million.
The dates of the alleged payments are not mentioned in the court document nor any further details about them.
The commission swore that the three companies have existing contracts with the city county and have received some payments.