House wants State to probe senior State officials in Sh500m National Cereals and Produce Board case

A letter written to the Ministry of Agriculture has named senior Government officials who have allegedly contributed to problems faced by the board. [Photo: File/Standard]

By Allan Kisia

Kenya: Parliament wants the Government to investigate the authenticity and credibility of a letter that names powerful people in Government in relation to the country’s grain authority.

The letter, by one Brian Yongo, had sought to have an inquiry opened into a director of a private company who was awarded a tender at the heavily indebted National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

Agriculture Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome, who appeared before the Public Investment Committee, said the letter indicated that the director at Erad, Mr Jacob Juma, was a close ally of four senior Government officials.

It named Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia, Treasury PS Joseph Kinyua and lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, who sits in the Judicial Service Commission.

Also named is former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza, who was accused of threatening and attempting to bribe a lawyer representing NCPB.

Mr Joshua Nyawara claimed that he was threatened by Baraza, who was representing Erad before her appointment.

Judicial decisions

“The author of the letter said Juma would go around saying Ahmednasir would influence Judicial decisions in their favour and he personally knows Kimaiyo, Kinyua and Kimemia,” he said.

Kiome, who read sections of the letter to the committee, noted that his ministry forwarded the note to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for further investigation.

The letter was also copied to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, EACC and Kinyua.

It was Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa who asked the Board to conduct investigations to establish the credibility of the letter and its author.

Erad last week moved to court seeking seizure and auction of the country’s strategic grain reserve that is worth billions of shillings.

Erad, which did not supply even a single grain of maize to the Board, had been granted a decree allowing it to sell moveable assets of the State corporation to recover its money.

It is now seeking to sell immovable assets. The company is demanding Sh500 million from Board. Monday, Kiome vowed that NCPB would not pay a single cent for goods not delivered.

“Come what may, we will not pay for nothing delivered. It does not matter who makes the ruling,” he said. The PS said the way the process was started was unprofessional and had some interested parties in it.

“That contract was not procedural. They know in their minds that the contract could not be implemented,” he added. He said when Erad was awarded the contact, it was not in a position to deliver the maize and claimed that individuals in the public service were involved.

The PS said the ministry had not set aside any money to bail out the troubled corporation.  Kiome said the Government owed the corporation a lot of money, which had accrued over the years.

“If the Ministry of Special Programmes, the Treasury and Agriculture Ministry had paid NCPB all its money, things wouldn’t be as bad,” he said. NCPB Managing Director Gideon Misoi told the committee chaired by Eldas MP Adan Keynan that they would do their best to ward off the Sh500 million award.

Responding to the committee chairman on the amount of legal fees, the Board said it had spent Sh29 million on lawyers, but based on standard rates. Misoi said the former management that oversaw the tender was in a better position to offer an explanation for the award of the contract to Erad.

“We discovered that there was corruption involved and wrote to the anti-graft body for investigation,” said Misoi. The committee had asked NCPB to furnish it with documents showing the chronology of events leading to the Sh500 million debt.

The committee also wanted documents dating back to 2004 when the Board’s woes began following severe drought. Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi wondered if the Board cared to find out why they were being given an invoice for goods not delivered.

Mr Lameck Achika, from the Auditor-General’s office, told the committee that when Erad was awarded the contract, it had a net worth of Sh6 million but contracted to supply maize worth Sh739 million. “Erad should not have qualified for the award,” he added, noting that Erad had a bank overdraft of Sh3 million at the time.

NCPB is mandated to oversee post-harvest grain management, provide farmers with markets for their produce and procure and distribute fertiliser.  The Board also provides farmers with driers for correct moisture levels before storage.