Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter vows to continue speaking ‘the truth’

By Faith Ronoh                       

Eldoret, Kenya: The standard gauge railway has been billed as the mother of all scandals — bigger than Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg scandals combined.

Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, the whistleblower in the latest finance fiddling to hit the country, said in an exclusive interview with The Standard on Saturday, the final figures of the scandal surpass all other scandals to hit the country since independence.

Keter has been in the limelight for faulting the manner in which the Jubilee government is conducting national affairs.

He has also been on record accusing TNA of shortchanging the deputy President William Ruto’s party, URP, in appointments to senior government jobs.

But his greatest discontent is financial fiddling that resulted in the escalation of the cost of building the standard gauge railway to Sh1.3 trillion from Sh220.9 billion, which was commissioned by the President on November 28.

He said the contract was three times overpriced and its tender was irregularly awarded.  He disclosed that the China Bridge and Road Corporation, the company awarded the contract, over-quoted the contract billing Kenya up to three times the internationally accepted standards.

He warned if the government engages in the contract it will lose about Sh400 billion. “I have equally raised concerns over the cost of building a one-kilometre railway line at six million dollars when the actual cost is two million dollars, meaning Kenyans will lose four million dollars per kilometre.

The biggest undoing, he added, was not about the money involved in the process but the manner in which the whole process was done. “The tendering procedures are in law and it states clearly that any amount exceeding Sh500, 000 must be subjected to a competitive tendering process which did not happen for this particular case.”

 “The Chinese government and our government are going into a government-government agreement which in procurement law is acceptable. But still, you cannot avoid the tendering issue, you must follow the procedures. The government should have allowed competitive bidding process to continue while allowing Chinese contractors to compete because all of them are funded by the Chinese government,” he added.

He said he was forced to speak out because the inflated contract would further saddle the country with a huge phony debt that will impoverish the people.

“I am not against the railway. I am supporting it because it will create employment and at the same time boost the economy but other than that we must have value for our money. Let Kenyans have the best deal,” he said.

Keter now wants the government to explain to tax payers why the contract was single sourced at such a huge amount.

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary, Michael Kamau, has since maintained that feasibility studies were carried out and the construction of the rail line will go on.

Keter has also faulted the government for allowing the contractors to carry out feasibility studies, saying the same company awarded the contract did the costing and bill of quantities. “The government should have ensured that due diligence is followed in arriving at the exact cost,” he said.

A section of lawmakers and the Dockworkers Union had earlier asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to postpone the ground-breaking ceremony, saying the project mirrors the Anglo leasing scandal.

The committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing had also expressed reservations about the way Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) issued the tender.

Even though Kamau defended the deal, saying that the Chinese government had seconded the contractor because it was funding most part of the project, Attorney General Githu Muigai had earlier differed with that argument.

Prof Muigai said KRC should have sought a contractor for the project competitively to promote fair competition, transparency and accountability. 

In his letter toPPOA dated April 30, Muigai warned that the tender had been awarded unlawfully to the Chinese contractor, presenting the newest possible hurdle that could set the project up for delays or even cancellation.