Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala denies asking for kickback

By DAVID OCHAMI and WILLIS OKETCH

KENYA: Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has admitted meeting the Cortec Kenya official who on Friday accused him of seeking a bribe.

He, however, angrily denied demanding Sh80 million.

He says he met controversial businessman Jacob Juma “sometime in July” after he had indicated he was about to review all mining licences issued between January and May this year. He says he had been looking into mining issues and licences even before he was vetted and sworn into Cabinet and had asked Director of Mines Moses Masibo to stop issuing any new mining licences. He described himself as “caretaker minister” between April 26, when he was nominated, and the day he was sworn-in to office.

He accused Cortec of running a propaganda campaign through the media to pressure him into not questioning its licence. He claims this began after he announced plans to review licences in an internal ministry communication. Cortec, he says, inflated the amount of its mineral find in Kwale to “excite the market”, “raise funds” and make it harder to cancel the license.

He was, however, at pains to explain why he met Juma after deciding to cancel it. He says Juma briefed him about Cortec’s plans in Kenya. However, he angrily denied seeking any bribes from Cortec so it could keep its licence.