The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drugs Abuse (Nacada) has been plunged into further crisis after some board members annulled the recent suspension of the chief executive officer by board Chairman John Mututho.
After what they termed as a special board meeting in the absence of Mr Mututho, the officials distanced themselves from Mututho's statements alleging misappropriation of Sh99 million and the subsequent suspension of CEO William Okedi and five other top officials
"We wish to categorically state that these sentiments did not emanate from a Board resolution, but were personal statements from Mututho. Consequently, the suspension of CEO and the other staff members is null and void," Vice Chairperson Gladys Tarayia said at Nacada head offices in Nairobi.
She said the board had received allegations of graft from Mututho himself and Executive Director of the NGO Coordination Board Mahammed Fazul but was still in the process of investigating them when Mututho announced the suspension of the CEO and other staff.
"The matter of alleged misappropriation of funds is being handled by the board in consultation with management firm Ernest & Young who are the management agency responsible for the disbursement of the funds to civil society organisations," she said.
Mututho was also lambasted for his style of leadership that allegedly disregards operational procedures and systems and frequently issuing personal statements through the media without the approval and knowledge of the board.
Meanwhile, the crisis at Nacada deepened after details emerged that the over 3,000 samples of liquor collected over an year ago have never been tested.
Despite the board authorising the use of Sh20m for the exercise, the 3,300 samples are reportedly still at the authority's headquarters.
Two days after the board suspended its CEO and six senior staff over the Sh99m scam, it emerged that already 400 samples of the brews have already disappeared.
Mututho confirmed that none of the brews had been tested despite the approval of the board.
"Recently, over 400 of these samples were released by a senior manager back to the original owners without the requisite authority," he claimed.
The former Naivasha MP added more heat to the ongoing scandal when he alleged another plan to rip off the authority of Sh198m.
"I thank the board for thwarting an attempt to withdraw Sh198m from the authority accounts in two tranches for the last two financial years," he said.
He called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to move with haste and investigate various malpractices within the authority.
Mututho confirmed that some of the NGOs that benefited from the Sh99m had been deregistered way back in December 2010 before the funds were disbursed.
