Selfish interests that killed Sh63b medical kits probe

Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka. [Boniface Okendo/Standard]

A disagreement over inclusion of names of persons deemed culpable in the Sh63 billion medical equipment leasing project fanned rejection of a report by the Senate, the Sunday Standard can reveal.

After spending more than Sh11 million of taxpayers' money and about a year in sittings to investigate the Managed Equipment Services (MES) project, a report by the Ad Hoc Committee was dumped in the dustbin to safeguard self-interests.

An attempt by senators Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) and Samson Cherargei (Nandi) to move amendments to include names of a Cabinet Secretary and a Principal Secretary in the report flopped when Speaker Ken Lusaka disallowed it.

It is said a proposed censure of the two officials raised questions of whether it would appear as an attack against leaders from one region, with some senators demanding inclusion of other government officials in the report.

Some senators also told the Sunday Standard that chapters One to Five of the report detailing the flaws and referring guilt were drafted by the Secretariat, but there were questions on how the recommendations were arrived at to exonerate the top government officers and firms implicated in the matter.

There was also the question of lawyers of contractors being paid legal fees for drafting the upgraded contracts in excess of Sh40 million and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) collecting the original seven classified contracts, which talk about outright purchase and not leasing.

Instead of the report directly calling out for action against officers deemed culpable, it recommended further probe by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.

Even though the report described the procurement as a "criminal enterprise" hatched to benefit a few well-connected government officials and tycoons in the seven-year lease project, no individual was indicted.

Further, lawyers for some of the contractors named in the report are alleged to have approached at least four senators to do their bidding and ensure a favourable outcome.

There were also claims of money changing hands, raising questions of integrity on the matter that saw 27 senators gang up to reject the report unless the amendments were included.

As a result, rejection of the report means that the eight-month investigations that gobbled up millions of shillings in over 60 sittings went down the drain.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina defended his decision to vote against the report. “I voted against the MES report because the real architect of the scam was not mentioned in the report,” he tweeted.

A senator revealed that they were approached by interested parties and the report was disjointed, forcing them to reject it. “The Sixth chapter lost the plot. These are the same people who worked hard to water down the report. The amendments could have censured the key players but again, it was skewed to one tribe," said a senator.

"If the amendments were neutral, the report could have sailed through. We still have six months to re-introduce the motion, with the changes.”

The lawmaker said the committee failed to state whether the project was leasing or outright purchase as tasked by the House. “This report by design was set to fail. You term the project a criminal enterprise, name individuals where the contracts are varied by over 200 per cent, but fail to prefer culpability,” stated a legislator.

Contributions by legislators on the floor of the House painted a picture of what the senators were grappling with.

“We are in October 2020. This committee has had more than 365 days to come up with a report. This is the first time that we have had a special committee that has run for one full year. If you read this report, you'll notice that the motion to establish the ad-hoc committee was carried in September 2019,” said Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang.

Kericho's Cheruiyot said: “I do not mind even waiting on decision-making on this report because if it goes as it is, the companies mentioned in this report have connections in high places.

“I aim to achieve two things out of that Sh11.4 million of taxpayers’ money that has been spent. One, nail the culprits. Secondly and most importantly, we live in this country and there is nobody else that will make decisions for Kenyans.”

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja noted the time spent by the legislators in probing the matter and amount of money spent, while Lusaka confirmed one amendment had been approved.

During the debate, Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr spoke about his reservations on the report. "Chapter Six is a contradiction of the whole report. I will say without fear that the chapter on recommendations, Chapter Six, was done by a different person from the one who did chapters One to Five. They appear to have been reading from a different script."

Committee chair Fatuma Dullo had pleaded with her colleagues to let her take the House down memory lane as far as MES is concerned.

“When the MES issue came up, it was first subjected to the Committee of the Whole House where I remember very well, that committee was chaired by Senator Kipchumba Murkomen," she said.

She said when the report came up, most of the senators said it was the best report the Senate has ever had.

“Unfortunately, two weeks down the line, the same individuals are the ones saying this is rubbish, fake and the committee did nothing. It is really wrong for senators to be hypocritical. It's actually demoralising to the members who have put their energy and strength into this report,” the Isiolo Senator said.

Dullo took issue with colleagues who brought amendments concerning particular individuals and companies and faulted the whole report.

“Clearly, I'll say that is conflict of interest because you didn't sit in that committee. We should not behave like we are representing contractors here. If you are here to defend contractors, go to a court of law and defend them there but not on the floor of the House…,” she said.

Vice-chair Moses Wetang'ula also abandoned the report at the 11th hour, with some committee members voting against it.