Tourism officials in Sh64 million scandal

By Standard Team

A tour company used President Kibaki’s trip to the Masai Mara last August to defraud taxpayers of millions of shillings.

The one-day trip to the tourist resort to promote tourism following post-election slump cost taxpayers Sh20 million although all the President did was have lunch, and fly back to Nairobi.

But Presidential Press Service Director Isaiah Kabira said: "Presidential trips are never funded by parastatals. The President visited (Masai) Mara for a few hours and flew back to Nairobi without spending even a night."

Dr Ong’ong’a Achieng’, the managing director of the Kenya Tourist Board at a past Press conference. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

He went on: "Let nobody drag the President’s name into their mess. They must account for their deeds and carry their own cross."

Another trip to the Mara for permanent secretaries in October 2007 cost taxpayers Sh8.9 million, paid to a tour company associated with a Kenya Tourist Board (KTB) member.

Incidentally, the trip was funded by Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) to the tune of Sh800,000.

Months earlier, KTB paid Sh35 million to a single-sourced company for outdoor advertising although Government auditors could not find evidence of any work undertaken.

As a consequence, the Treasury has suspended Sh12 billion-rescue package to revamp tourism, which has been on the decline since December 27, 2007 when post-election violence erupted and more than 1,500 people were killed.

A Sh1 billion marketing campaign had been instituted by KTB to counter bad press that saw tourist arrivals dwindle, and which could now form the basis of further investigation.

This morning, the KTB board sits to decide on the fate Managing Director Ong’ong’a Achieng, who was interdicted last month to pave the way for investigation.

Some of the claims relate to Sh35 million payment to Prime Outdoor Network in January and March last year, which was contracted without competitive bidding, contrary to the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. Direct payments were also made to Maniago Safaris by the Catering and Tourism Development Levy Trustees on the instructions of KTB without going through the approved channels, according to a letter from KTB Chairman Jake Grieves-Cook.

Irregular payments

According to correspondence The Standard has obtained, Achieng was interdicted on December 1, last year, and given two weeks to explain the irregular payments, some of which were raised by the ministry’s National Audit Office and the Efficiency Monitoring Office.

Achieng responded on December 9 in a letter to Grieves-Cook and copied to Tourism Minister Najib Balala and Permanent Secretary Rebecca Nabutola.

Achieng explained that he selected Prime Outdoor, among other reasons, because certain provisions in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act allowed for that.

The exemptions are: "If only one person can supply the goods, no reasonable alternative exists or there is an urgency for goods or services, as long as the purpose is not to avoid competition."

Achieng further wrote: "It cannot be gainsaid that the circumstances of January 2008 fit all the four sections." He defended the trip as "very beneficial to the industry" although no explanation was offered for double payment as KATO had paid Sh800,000 for the same trip.

The Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU), the Inspector General Corporations and Tourism ministry’s external auditors uncovered the fraud, while KTB held a meeting on December 10 to review the charges.

The meeting was chaired by Grieves-Cook and attended by nine KTB directors and representatives from the Treasury, Office of the President and Inspector of State Corporations, among others.

Conflict of interest

At the meeting, it was concluded that the services and payments in question "did not go through the approved procedures", that there was undeclared conflict of interest by a board member and that "Prime Outdoor had not carried out any form of advertisement on behalf of KTB for which it had been paid Sh35 million".

Maniago declined to comment yesterday, while Achieng’s phone went unanswered. He had declined to comment when contacted by The Standard on the telephone, saying he would make himself available for an interview. He did not.

Prime Outdoor representatives also declined to comment.

Neither the Tourism minister nor the PS or KTB chairman could be reached for comment.

Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission Public Relations Manager Nicholas Simani said they had not received any complaints from KTB.

Prime Outdoor is listed at the Registrar of Companies as having been formed on December 22, 2000, with Ignatius Obonyo Odhiambo and Francis Raudo as directors.

Maniago Safaris’ file could not be traced at the Registrar of Companies but its website indicates that it was incorporated in 1998 after a buyout of Abercrombie & Kent. Its managing director is Mr Duncan Muriuki, who also sits on KTB board.

 

 

 

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