State House alarmed by top Office of the President officials over security millions

President Uhuru Kenyatta is categorical that those who have been given the responsibility to manage public funds must ensure the resources are used for the intended purposes. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

By KIPCHUMBA SOME and JACOB NG’ETICH

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Kenya: A confidential kitty stuffed with hundreds of millions of shillings meant for security operations is at the heart of a bitter fallout between State House and certain top officials at the Office of the President (OP).

Two weeks after President Uhuru Kenyatta blew the whistle on an unnamed network of corrupt officials in his office, no decisive action has been taken to address the vice.

State House believes that officials at OP are withdrawing money from the confidential vote for personal use and to undermine Government agenda.

A top State House official who asked not to be named before he could speak freely identified four senior officials at the OP, who he said were the masterminds of an existing parallel system in Government and who seem to be answerable only to themselves.

“Nothing happens, nothing moves without the say-so of these guys,” said our source. “They have even tried to infiltrate State House by giving some officials there some of the money,” he said. Launching the Security Sector Rapid Results Initiative at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre early this month, President Kenyatta put corrupt OP officials on notice.

“In my office, there are people who think that it is a house for making money. We must agree it has to come to an end,” the President warned. “Watu Wajipange. Something will happen soon.”

Opaque office

The President was categorical that those who have been given the responsibility to manage public funds must ensure the resources are used for the intended purposes. “The money allocated for security must go to equip the police and fuel police vehicles and not find its way into individuals’ pockets,” he said.

The President admitted that 60 per cent of corruption complaints in Government were coming through his office. The President’s comments seemed to strengthen an argument advanced a month ago by one of his aides, Eric Ng’eno, who complained that some individuals at the OP had established a parallel system that is at odds with that of the Jubilee Government.

Soon after the President made the remarks it was revealed that the Office of the Secretary to the Cabinet, headed by Francis Kimemia, was moved from the OP to State House.

The Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua who had been operating from State House will now spend at least three days at the OP to tackle the corruption networks.

Contacted for comment on the President’s concern and the transfer, Kimemia and the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government Mutea Iringo said they had no comment. But the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament chairman Ababu Namwamba is warning that his committee would not spare any department, including the OP as they scrutinise the expenditure of public funds.

Speaking to The Standard On Sunday, Mr Namwamba claimed that the OP was the most opaque office in terms of accountability; a situation he said sets a bad example to the other Government departments.

“We will be reviewing the OP books in two weeks time and I can assure Kenyans that we will not leave any stone unturned, we will look at every account and its expenditures,” said Namwamba. The PAC chairman said his committee would look at the OP with the “precision of a neurosurgeon and with the keenness of a Buddhist monk” because the office was expected to lead by example.

“We are not on a blood hunt, but we are a watchdog for Kenyans. We will ensure that every cent is accounted for, including the funds the President suspects have been misused in his office,” said Namwamba. Mars Group boss Mwalimu Mati said there was tendency by top Government officials to transfer money from their budgets into a discretionary fund that could easily be accessed by heads of departments. “Of course it is not a legal process but it is an easy way for those in Government to use public money without the scrutiny of Parliament.

This is reportedly very rampant in Government and it’s the way senior officials get money,” said Mr Mati. He said the use of the discretionary fund was an illegal practice initiated by corrupt Government officials for easy access to money. “It doesn’t matter if it is the Office of the President or whatever ministry, the law needs to be followed strictly, all the money spent should be accounted for,” said the Mars Group CEO.

John Githongo, the chief executive officer of Inuka Kenya Trust, said that “the combined power of the corruption networks embedded at the OP, in my opinion, eclipse by far the powers of the President”.

He said, that from his research, the cartels work by buying absolute loyalty from key State institutions such as the public service, parastatals and the security agencies.

In an opinion article two weeks ago, Mandera County Senator Billow Kerrow urged the President to move swiftly against the corruption networks. “The network of cartels built around the Head of Public Service continues to haunt ministries to date, undermining procurement processes everywhere, from the Central Bank security project, to JKIA Greenfield project, to the Standard Gauge Railway contract, to the Lands Ministry circus, and literally across the entire Government,” he said. To facilitate its security operations, the Ministry of Interior and Co-ordination of National Government, under the OP, has a special vote that is usually not accountable for.

However, the State House insider said officials at the OP often divert huge sums of this money to personal use and to maintain and extend the patronage networks they have established.

Unintended purposes

“What they request for these operations is not what they spend. They use a fraction of it for the intended purposes and pocket the rest. Haven’t you asked yourself why these so-called security operations take inordinately too long and are hardly successful? It is because it is not in their best interest for the operations to end,” he said.

He said that four top officials, working in cohorts with a prominent Nairobi businessman have been trying to influence the awarding of tenders in State parastatals.

He said the officials have been buying favours in Government using the money.

“They distribute money on weekly basis to targeted people in key positions in Government. In return they get favours through Government tenders. Often these deals are done under the table,” he said.

Asked whether State House is seeking control of the kitty, the official said: “No, because that money has a purpose. But we want them to stop undermining Government programmes.” When asked why the President has not acted against the corrupt officials, our source said that such a move “ought to be done delicately given the level of influence that the officials wield in the public service and certain sections of the security apparatus. But something is on the way”.

Commenting on the confidential vote, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo says his work is simply to facilitate the withdrawal of the money for use by his officers.

“The confidential fund is supposed to help us do our work professionally and since the inception of the offices of the DIGs and CID, they get the money directly. My office is involved with policy work.”