• The details are contained in phone conversations she tabled before the Parliamentary Public Petitions Committee on Tuesday.
• The revelations come at a time Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to disclose individuals he alleged irregularly allocated public funds.
Image: PARLIAMENT
Treasury pushed for the release of Sh11 billion to the Office of the President and Infrastructure Ministry just days before the election, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o has claimed.
In documents tabled before the Parliamentary Public Petitions Committee on Tuesday, Nyakang'o shared what she said were text conversations between her and a senior Treasury official persuading her to expedite the transaction.
"Please help us expedite this," one of the text messages she alleges was from the official said.
"His Excellency might even call you if we don't deal with this by 4 pm," he added.
"Are you saying we have 26 minutes to complete the process?" Nyakang'o replied.
"He just called and I assured him that I have spoken to you and you promised before the end of the day," the official said.
“I know he will call again. He persuaded some guys to resume work and promised that their bill be settled by today,” he added.
In the conversation that the documents show took place on August 4, 2022, between 3.33 pm and 3.39 pm, Nyakang’o told the official that the request would need time to be executed.
“The timing requires up to tomorrow as I’m still out of office.”
In response to this, the official said, "You need to devise how to deal with it. I am sorry but try.”
In a previous conversation on April 1, 2022, the Treasury official said Sh1 billion of the cash would go to the Office of the President for security related projects.
He said the funds were urgently needed to avert the possibility of the contractor abandoning the project.
"There's extreme urgency and I may ask boss to call you if need be," the official said.
"Please, also facilitate similar approvals for Infrastructure Ministry for amounts Sh8 billion and Sh2 billion," he followed it up on August 4, 2022.
The revelations come at a time Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to disclose individuals he alleged irregularly allocated public funds.
The DP said the monies were stolen during Supreme Court process and at the height of the Copvid-19 pandemic.
"Money was stolen from Covid when people were dying. Two days before the elections, they stole Sh6 billion and pretended to sell some shares from Telkom," the DP said.
He spoke on Sunday at Jesus Winner Ministries on Thika Road.
"When there was a case before Supreme Court, they stole another Sh10 billion purportedly to pay some contractors. Money was being brought in cartons at Wilson Airport and flown with choppers to people's homes," he claimed.