- Appearing before the oversight committee, Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kamonye only described the person who was on-board as a senior officer.
- Wandayi said the committee will summon CS Kariuki to appear before them over the matter.
Image: FILE
Water Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki has been dragged into an alleged helicopter ride scandal that saw millions of money spent.
It has emerged that she diverted the chopper to a private event. The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee heard that the National Youth Service hired a chopper in 2017-18 for Sh7.7 million for fieldwork staff travelling to various destinations.
After the fieldwork, the chopper was to end the trip at Wilson Airport but it was allegedly diverted by the CS to drop her at Windsor, which was not in the approved itinerary, thereby attracting additional charges.
Appearing before the oversight committee, Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kamonye only described the person who was on board as a senior officer. Kamonye was accompanied by NYS director-general Matilda Sakwa.
The PS was responding to audit queries for the financial year 2017-18 during which Kariuki was the CS for Public Service and Gender.
“Confirm to this committee that the person who used this helicopter in question was CS Sicily Kariuki? Before you answer your question, remember if you continue to be protective of her this can go down on you very badly,” PAC chairman Opiyo Wandayi said.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale said the manner in which the PS was protecting the occupant of the aircraft was suspect.
“If we want to know who this person is we will know, we will just call Kenya Airports Authority and get the manifest. We can also get this information from the intelligence person who was present when the CS boarded the helicopter,” he said.
The PS, however, declined to name the occupant of the NYS-hired chopper and instead asked for more time to get documentation.
Wandayi said the committee will summon CS Kariuki to appear before them over the matter. The Ugunja MP directed the PS to submit the name of the ‘senior official’ who was aboard the chopper during today’s sitting.
The Auditor-General had flagged the Windsor in its 2017-18 report that is being examined by the watchdog committee.
“Further, the invoices billed and paid include an invoice for Windsor as part of the itinerary, which was not in the approval itinerary that was requisitioned and approved by the accounting officer,” the auditor said.
The auditor also took issue with the spending of Sh2.3 million for the hiring of mobile toilets for a one-day Cabinet secretary’s meeting with Sacco members at Gilgil NYS College.
The toilet hiring – according to the auditor – was not supported by any documentation on how the contractor was identified and awarded the contract. In response, Sakwa defended the spending, saying it was urgent and there were no prequalified firms.