Githongo: I was denied access to Anglo Leasing contract

 

Former Ethics and Governance Permanent Secretary John Githongo

Former Ethics and Governance Permanent Secretary John Githongo has denied seeing the Anglo-Leasing contract that led to the loss of billions of shillings.

Mr Githongo was testifying in a case where former permanent secretaries Dave Mwangi and Joseph Magari, former head of debt management David Onyonka, and businessmen Deepak Kamani, Rashmi Kamani and Chamanlal Kamani, are facing trial for conspiracy to defraud the Government

Githongo testified that despite being the whistle blower in the scandal that rocked former President Mwai Kibaki's regime, he never saw copies of the contracts and only relied on intelligence reports from intelligence officers and other complainants.

"I only saw the document for the first time today, when it was shown to me by the prosecution," he said.

Primary investigator

Lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi questioned Githongo on why he claimed to have no knowledge of the contract or the parties who signed it despite being the primary investigator.

Githongo could not also confirm whether the equipment for modernising the police department under the Anglo-Leasing contract between the Government and Sound Day Corporation was delivered or not.

"I am only aware that the company was trading with the Government and had been delivering security equipment since 1993."

He told the court that when he was the Ethics PS in 2004, he received confidential information that some ghost companies had been paid Sh90 million to supply police equipment.

He said he reported the matter to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Cabinet sub-committee on corruption after which a decision was made to pursue full investigations to establish who was paid the money. [Paul O Ogemba]