Supkem acting chair Hassan ole Naado has denied that he is under investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for misappropriation of funds at the entity.
Naado said investigations centre on the results of an audit of the Hajj accounts of Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims for 2017-18, when he had not taken office.
“When I took over office last year, I am the one who instigated the audit of the accounts. So many travel agents were fleecing us of a lot of money through unscrupulous deals,” he said.
Naado blamed unscrupulous travel agents for the allegations because of strict policies that he has established at Supkem.
“We have put in place strict measures that have exposed the extent of the rot in the organisation. These measures locked out about 60 agents who are behind this campaign to discredit my leadership,” he said.
Among the policies is a requirement that all travel agents must be tax-compliant, registered companies and have a certificate of good conduct.
Additionally, Naado says Supkem has developed new terms of reference to vet travel agents in accordance with the government requirements.
He also revealed that the agents have driven the organisation into a debt of Sh823,000 Saudi Riyals (approximately Sh233 million) through fake bank documents.
“One agent brought fake documents claiming a refund of $9,500 instead of Sh9,500 that he had actually spent. Another one brought a fake bank slip demanding Sh18,000,” he said.
Naado had spent the better part of the day at DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road where he had been reportedly summoned for investigations over loss of funds.
Former chair Yusuf Nzibo’s reign was riddled with wrangles as various factions of Supkem accused him of poor leadership, corruption and mismanagement of funds.
Nzibo, a former diplomat and IEBC commissioner, was ousted last year in November and replaced by Naado – his deputy.
Edited by R.Wamochie
