The National Youth Service (NYS), one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s pet projects since he rose to power in 2013, has been unravelling lately, with serious allegations of impropriety that has led to the loss of over Sh791 million.
The other pet projects are the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line that has also run into headwinds over matters of land on which it is to be laid. Some communities along the projected route of the railway line are demanding unrealistic compensation. This will likely slow down the progress on the line.
The fraud at NYS was, interestingly, perpetrated through manipulation of the supposed secure and foolproof IFMIS system. It is a system over which governors have expressed reservations and have threatened to go to court to be exempted from using it because of its shortcomings.
Banking Fraud Investigations Unit officers are claiming that fraudulent transactions at the NYS might not be fully unearthed because the digital-savvy schemers were using the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) of the internet, which means only a limited amount of data can be recovered.
The manner in which the NYS saga has been handled since Opposition leader Raila Odinga blew the whistle on it leaves a lot to be desired. There have been attempts to cover up what must be a deeper malaise that might come to light through thorough scrutiny. It does not help matters that Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru told a parliamentary committee after the graft claims that not a single cent had been stolen from NYS and that the IFMIS system had detected the attempted fraud.
A few days later, the Cabinet secretary stunned the nation when she recanted her earlier statement and admitted Sh791 million had indeed been stolen through shady procurement deals. She went on to say 21 officers had been interdicted over the matter. But that was not convincing is that those interdicted were junior officers who did not have the wherewithal to carry out a heist on such a magnitude.
The question then is; who are these highly placed officers that could circumvent the system, make false payments and even manage to bypass the IFMIS server, thus leaving no trail to follow? Who had the power to override procurement procedures and give tenders to companies that had not been vetted?
Why has Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru failed to take responsibility for the theft under her watch? Pleading innocence when cash has been lost simply won’t wash. Some of her colleagues whose dockets came under suspicion of corruption voluntarily relinquished their office upon the President’s request to do so, to pave way for investigations. Why hasn’t Waiguru been asked to follow the same procedure to allow for investigations? Leaving office is not proof of guilt; it allows investigators to carry out their work without being coerced or influenced by the suspects, especially when they wield immense power.
As questions rage on the roles of the NYS director and the Devolution Principal Secretary for Devolution in the NYS scam, it is critical that investigators get to the bottom of the matter. The probe must not be deterred by the behaviour of a small group of legislators within the Jubilee coalition that would have the country believe the NYS saga was witch-hunt, even when facts state cash was lost. In the fight against corruption, there must be no sacred cows.
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