Sh500m irregular Anglo-leasing payment was refunded, Kinyua

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua has said the Sh500 million commitment fees paid for the Anglo-Leasing contract was irregular.

Testifying in court, Mr Kinyua (pictured), said he advised former Attorney General Amos Wako to cancel the contract entered between the Government and Infotalent Limited when he became the Treasury PS in 2004 after noticing the irregularities.

He, however, told the court that no money was lost after the company contracted to supply police modernisation equipment refunded the Sh506,965,167 it had been paid in terms of promissory notes.

Nothing lost

“I can confirm that the money was refunded to Treasury and that the government did not lose a single penny. No Government property was illegally acquired in the transaction, it was the commitment fees that was irregularly paid,” said Kinyua.

He testified that the money for the contract was budgeted for and approved by Parliament, and that Treasury had special authorisation from the minister for finance to execute the contract before the illegalities were noted.

Kinyua said when he became Treasury PS in 2004, he went through the Anglo leasing contracts and could not tell how the contract sum was arrived at or whether it was a competitive amount, and that when the Auditor General report raised doubts on the amounts paid, he wrote to the AG to formally terminate the contracts.

“We even put a caveat locally and internationally, warning banks not to discard the promissory notes paid to the Anglo Leasing companies.

It was what helped us because there was no claim filed against the Government between 2004 and 2007,” said Kinyua.

As he was cross-examined by lawyer Kioko Kilukumi, Kinyua said he was not aware the contract had been legally approved by the AG. He testified that he was not involved in drafting of the contracts since he had not joined Treasury at the time.

“For Central Bank to authorise the payments, the money had to be allocated by Parliament and the payment made through approval of the Auditor General,” said Kinyua.

Ministers' signature

He added that the Treasury could not make the payments without the signature of the PS or the finance minister.

Kinyua was testifying in the case where former Permanent Secretaries Dave Mwangi and Joseph Magari, former head of Debt Management David Onyonka, businessmen Deepak Kamani, Rashmi Kamani and Chamanlal Kamani are charged with conspiracy to defraud the government.