Sh35 million fraud at Mombasa port

Theft at the port has been blamed on junior employees in the engineering department

Anti-Corruption officials are investigating an alleged Sh35 million corruption incident at the Kenya Ports Authority.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is looking into allegations that fictitious companies were used to deliver drinking water to KPA’s offices at Mombasa port.

The deliveries were said to have been made between July 2017 and June this year.

The information that is contained in the company’s internal audit reports also hints that more money could have been lost in similar schemes in previous financial years. 

 According to the audit that was revealed in August, the Sh35 million was illegally paid to six firms.

The firms did not supply any water and were paid in collusion with some employees in the civil engineering department.

The department is in charge of water delivery at KPA.

An internal special executive management committee prepared the report. 

The committee comprised the managing director and three senior general managers.

The probe was commissioned after it was noticed that KPA was paying an unusually high water bill.

The cost of fresh water, says the report, has been rising over the years.

This is despite the fact that KPA invested in a desalination plant that was supposed to help do away with private firms selling water to the company.

But according to investigations, the desalination plant is being operated by a private firm associated with two port officials.

“After analysing all the figures the audit concluded that in the 2017/2018 financial year, the State corporation lost a total of Sh35.4 million as a result of fictitious and fraudulent water deliveries,” reads the audit report.

“This was perpetrated through confirmation of inflated deliveries and changing of delivery notes to reflect higher quantities than actual delivery.”

Although the audit department recommended that four KPA employees who were directly involved in the scam be charged, no action has been taken against them.

It is only EACC that has taken their statements.

One manager is reported to have ordered his juniors to confirm the delivery and commence the process payments to the suppliers.

Another employee allegedly signed the fictitious delivery notes, starting the payment process.

Delivery notes

“The employee in question signed delivery notes that appeared altered,” the report reads.

Yesterday KPA’s head of civil engineering, Alfred Masha, said he was aware about the audit report indicting his juniors.

However, he denied being aware of any disciplinary action taken against them.

“I am aware about the report but the issue of disciplinary action against the employees is a matter to be addressed by the human resource department,” said Mr Masha.