- Ruto wants the Public Accounts Committee to probe probable misuse of public funds
- He has also written to the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu requesting a forensic audit of the accounts of the BBI Steering Committee and Taskforce.
Image: WILLIAM RUTO/TWITTER
Deputy President William Ruto has launched two separate attacks on his boss Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga over funds used on the Building Bridges Initiative.
Ruto wants the Public Accounts Committee to probe probable misuse of public funds and has written to the Auditor General Nancy Gathungu requesting a forensic audit of the accounts of the BBI Steering Committee and Taskforce.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale, a confidant to Ruto, has requested a statement from the PAC regarding the alleged misuse and wastage of public funds.
"The Supreme Court declared the constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 popularly known as the BBI null and void. The pertinent question that arises is, was public funds utilised in rolling out the unconstitutional process?” Duale posed.
The MP wants the PAC to establish the exact amounts of public funds that were allocated and utilised by the BBI Steering Committee and Taskforce, the BBI secretariat and Principal Secretaries.
He also wants the committee to establish whether public funds were used in a prudent and responsible way, in accordance with Article 201 (d) of the constitution.
Duale further wants the committee to state whether public funds were applied lawfully and in an effective way in accordance with Article 229 (6) of the constitution.
In the letter to the Auditor General, Ruto’s UDA, Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC and Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford Kenya claimed that Sh30 billion was spent on the BBI Steering Committee, BBI Taskforce in "public and stakeholder engagement exercises.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the BBI steering committee and task force spent Sh10 billion while various Principal Secretaries and other accounting officers spent another Sh20 billion illegally to push for public support for the process that has since been declared unconstitutional by three superior courts of law,” the letter said.
The letter by UDA, ANC and Ford Kenya was copied to Ethic and Anti-Corruption Commission CEO Twalib Mbarak and Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakangó.
Others copied are the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, World Bank country Director Keith Hansen and International Monetary Fund Resident Representative Tobias Rasmussen.
The Supreme Court last Thursday stopped Uhuru's bid to make sweeping constitutional changes through the BBI.
The Supreme Court upheld a finding by the lower courts that Uhuru initiated the changes through a constitutional provision exclusively reserved for ordinary citizens.
The judges ruled that the President was the promoter of the initiative and that the constitution does not grant him the powers to amend it through a popular initiative.
In his request for a statement, Duale said Sh10 billion was used in “public stakeholder engagement exercises and Sh20 billion for the roll out of the illegal project .”
He also said the PSs who authorised the use of public funds and or diverted funds for the advancement of the BBI should be held personally liable for the misuse and wastage of public funds.
UDA, ANC and Ford Kenya further said the use of pubic funds by the BBI taskforce and the Principal Secretaries on the unconstitutional BBI Bill was in blatant violation of Article 201(d) of the constitution and section 66(1)(a) and (i) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.
“Article 226(5) of the constitution provides that if the holder of a public office, including a political office, directs or approves the use of public funds contrary to the law, the person is liable for any loss arising from that use and shall make good the loss, whether the person remains the holder of the office or not,” the letter read.
“It is our view that pursuant to Article 73(2)(d), as read with Article 226(5) of the constitution, the Principal Secretaries who authorised the use of the public funds on the unconstitutional Bill should be held personally liable for the misuse and wastage of the Sh20 billion.”
The three parties said a forensic audit to establish fraud, corruption or other financial improprieties may be undertaken by the Auditor General only upon request by Parliament.
“It is worth noting that Article 229(5) of the constitution places a constitutional and legal obligation on you to conduct an audit on the accounts of any entity that is funded from public funds,” the letter read.
The letter was signed by secretaries general Veronica Maina (UDA), Simon Gikuru (ANC) and Chris Wamalwa (Ford Kenya).
The three added that the Auditor General needs to confirm whether public funds were used in a prudent and responsible way and whether or not public funds were applied lawfully and in an effective way.
“Thereafter, we request that, in accordance with Article 227(7) of the constitution, you submit the audit report to the National Assembly for its consideration”
“The Kenyan people look up to you, to exercise your constitutional mandate in establishing the culprits so that the criminal justice system can take over from there”
They added that Kenya Kwanza Alliance is committed to ensuring that every coin that belongs to the people is used lawfully and only for purposes of advancing their well-being.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)