I was not involved in housing scam, Othaya MP Mary Wambui says

Othaya MP Mary Wambui and Nyeri Town MP Esther Murugi (left) addressing the press at the Parliament buildings Wednesday. [PHOTO: GOVEDI ASUTSA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: Othaya MP Mary Wambui has denied any involvement in a Sh1.3 billion scam in which a company, Eastgate Apartments Ltd, was awarded a police housing tender under suspicious circumstances.

Addressing the Press at Parliament Buildings Wednesday, the MP said she was not a director of the company named in a report of the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Wambui explained that press reports linking her to the company were erroneous and a case of mistaken identity.

Although the Registrar of Companies lists a person called Mary Wambui as one of the directors, the Othaya MP denied that she was the said person.

"I know God is on my side and I have never been involved in corruption. I'm not and have never been the director of the company that was mentioned in the report. The said person is Mary Wambui Mungai and not Mary Wambui Munene, who is the MP for Othaya," the legislator, who was accompanied by three others, said.

Those who accompanied her were Kanini Kega (Kieni), Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town) and Peter Weru (Mathira).

According to the PAC report, Eastgate Apartments Ltd was allowed to purchase 300 police houses in an opaque process the saw the public lose Sh30 million through over-payments.

"The irregular selective process compromises value for money and robbed the public of the benefits of competition... The committee recommends disciplinary action against the accounting officer involved and invites the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate the matter further," said the PAC report.

Mr Kega said there should not be blanket association of MPs with corruption.

"We know that she is clean and we will support her. There is no connection between what was alleged and the MP for Othaya. There could be some MPs who are corrupt, but she is not one of them. It doesn't mean that all MPs are corrupt," said Kega.

Eastgate Apartments Directors, according to the PAC report, sought Sh435 million from Equity Bank to build the housing units along Kangundo Road near Umoja estate in Nairobi.