We did not bribe Ruto, says Chinese firm

A Chinese company at the centre of a controversial hospital upgrade project has denied bribing Deputy President William Ruto.

China Wu Yi Company dismissed claims by businessman Herbert Ojwang that it presented Ruto with gifts in a bid to secure a lucrative tender to upgrade the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

"...we made a courtesy call to the Deputy President's office to brief him on the proposed project at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mainly because the project is in his home area," said China Wu Yi Chief executive Officer Liu Hui.

"We at no time presented any gift to him. We only showed him designs of the work we intended to do," Hui stated.

He dismissed Ojwang's assertion as baseless, saying the businessman had no authority to speak on behalf of the company.

Last month, Ojwang linked Ruto to a Sh28 billion deal to construct a new referral hospital in Eldoret town and asked the National Assembly Public Investments Committee to probe the matter he termed irregular.

The businessman told the committee that he identified a Chinese company that would finance and construct the extensions for Sh17 billion, but Ruto instead pushed for construction of a new 2,000-bed hospital at a different site for Sh28 billion.

Ojwang, a former aide to Raila Odinga, alleged that Ruto, through his aide Caleb Kositany, put pressure on him to drop his dealing with a chinese company, which he had helped secure the deal.