By ROBERT WANYONYI
A section of Nzoia Sugar Company directors have been accused of interfering with tendering procedures.
Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers (Kuspaw) National Chairman Macdonald Wamacho claimed that there were three key tenders that some directors influenced.
These, he said, were a Sh300 million tender for the construction of a water bottling plant, a Sh100 million tender for the supply of new tractors and the company’s recent acquisition of a Sh10 million lathe machine.
He further claimed that another director received Sh300,000 to influence the award of a tender for the supply of 100 tractors while the lathe machine was bought by a firm that has close links with three directors.
“We will stop at nothing to expose the culprits to the anti-corruption agencies if they continue carrying on with their behaviour,” warned Mr Wamacho, who is also the Kuspaw Nzoia branch secretary.
But the chairman of the company’s board of directors Lawrence Sifuna challenged Wamacho to table evidence linking board members to corruption activities at the firm.
“We as board members don’t sit in any tendering committee. These are very independent committees and it beats logic for anyone to claim that we can influence the awarding of tenders. Let him table his evidence and all of us will resign,” Sifuna told The Standard on phone.
The union cautioned three board members whose names were not mentioned against the trend, saying they risked being denied access to the company’s premises.
Wamacho claimed that a senior board member pocketed Sh15 million from two firms that were each competing to get the water-bottling tender that was eventually awarded to a Chinese firm.
On the anti-cane poaching unit handover, Mr Sifuna said he was in the process of compiling the board’s final report over the menace that had threatened to cripple the activities of the second-largest miller in Kenya.
Wamacho also took issue with the board over failure to hand over duties of the anti-cane poaching unit to staff for proper management.
