Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu blamed for suspending parastatal boss

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu has been accused of meddling in the affairs of the National Housing Corporation Board by suspending its director, Peter Wachira.

Members of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Housing yesterday questioned the legality of the letter written by the ministry two days after Mrs Ngilu had met the chairman of the board, Sammy Chepkwony, and discussed contents of a report recommending the MD’s suspension.

Chepkwony told the committee that the letter suspending Wachira was received by the board on July 28 and approved two days later.

He said the decision to suspend Wachira was made by the ministry.

“On Friday July 26, I was away. When I came back the following Monday, I went to the CS’s office and she showed me the implicating documents from the Inspectorate of State corporations implicating the MD in malpractices,” he told the committee.

Usurped powers

The report accused Wachira of initiating an Enterprise Resource Planning system that was irregularly awarded to a contractor and making payments amounting to Sh52.5 million.

The MPs, however, wondered why the ministry had usurped the powers of the board in dealing with the staff of the corporation.

They also claimed the decision to suspend Wachira was taken in a hurry without giving him the opportunity to respond to the allegations made against him.

“It is very clear that the suspension letter did not come from the board. It came from elsewhere,” said Stephen Manoti (Bobasi).

The Chairman of the Committee Maina Kamanda said the board had allowed the Ministry of Housing to usurp its authority with regard to hiring and firing staff.