House team wants MP, governor and JSC officials probed over NCPB saga

Farmers deliver their farm produce at NCPB stores.

By Rawlings Otieno and Roselyne Obala

Nairobi, Kenya: A powerful parliamentary committee has blacklisted an MP and two other directors of a private firm over allegations of corruption related to a multibillion-shilling tender for maize importation.

The Public Investment Committee (PIC) in its report tabled in the House Tuesday said the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) entered into a Sh4.9 billion tender without consulting the country’s chief legal adviser, the Attorney General.

M/S Erad Supplies and General Contracts Limited moved to court seeking to auction NCPB silos over a contentious award occassioned by breach of contract. The directors of the company are businessman Jacob Juma, Sirisia MP John Waluke and Ms Grace Sarapay Wakhungu.

The blacklisting is not the only punishment for the directors. PIC says they will have to refund Sh313 million and all other moneys that they received after arbitration and litigation.

“The directors of the said company should also be investigated by the anti-corruption agency for the alleged offence of presenting false documents, which were used to tender for the maize at NCPB and were relied upon to award the tender,” reads the PIC report tabled by PIC chairman Adan Keynan.

Waluke is a member of the committee, which examined how he won the contract to supply white maize to NCPB.

Cover-up

The committee probing the matter between NCPB and the company has now called for further investigation of the firm, its directors and other government officers, including some commissioners of the beleaguered Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

The committee has also recommended that a governor, members of the JSC and staff of the Judiciary, should be investigated for their role in the scam, and the cover-up.

The report urges the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to carry out an in-depth probe on its findings and status of investigations and report back to the House within four-months.

Keynan’s committee wants the company, its directors and the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority (PPOA) Director General, barred from participating in any government’s procurement proceedings.

The committee also wants former NCPB Managing Director Tirop Kosgey probed for abuse of office, want of due diligence and disobedience of statutory duty.

It further recommends that the former legal counsel and Corporations Secretary Patrick Karanja be investigated for abuse of office and that NCPB should re-evaluate the services and usefulness of Karanja at the board taking into account his role during the maize importation programme.

The committee also delved into the dealings of the trustees of the Strategic Grain Reserves (SGR) Mahboub Mohamed and James Ongwae (presently governor Kisii) and recommended their investigation for breach of a sacrosanct duty of care owing to their positions as trustees.

“The trustees should be held accountable for failure to plan and ensure that adequate resources are available to NCPB to facilitate maize importation,” the report reads.

It continues: “The trustees should also be investigated for the poor manner in which the contract was handled both by the management of NCPB and the SGR trustees.”

The lawmakers recommended that the anti-graft body investigates the existence of Erad Supplies and General Contracts Limited for alleged international supplies and its partners from South Africa and Ethiopia, including Ethiopia Grain Trade Enterprise and Chelsea Freight Limited in the maize importation tender, and establish if indeed the commodity was purchased and stored as suspected.

The findings have brought to the fore the questionable corrupt activities that took place between the two, the role of JSC officials, the arbitrator and banks.

The committee now wants past and present staff of the JSC, who were involved in handling of the NCPB matter, to be investigated for allegations of corruption, bias and abuse of office in regard to the company.

“The Law Society of Kenya under its complaints and disciplinary arm should investigate the conduct of former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza for the controversial company and Joshua Nyawara for NCPB during the arbitration process,” recommends the report. The EACC has also been urged to investigate the arbitration process with a view to establishing corruption and irregularities and further probe the commission of the offence of unjust enrichment.

Conspiracy to defraud

The financial institutions adversely mentioned in the probe include I&M Bank and Dubai Bank. The committee wants both banks to be probed for the offence of conspiracy to defraud the government through the tender to supply maize to the board.

The committee further wants EACC to investigate the circumstances which saw the firm have an advanced unsigned copy of the draft contract between NCPB and M/S Erads two weeks before signing the agreement.

At the same time, Keynan’s committee wants the government to pay all outstanding debts of Sh3.2 billion owed to NCPB, subvention of Sh2.2 billion and an agency fee Sh1 billion. The committee has suggested that the government should take up as a matter of principal the entire debt owed by NCPB within the lawful execution of SGR assignments.

The committee directed that the government should not pay M/S Erad Supplies and General Contracts Limited or any director any money arising from the alleged breach of contract by NCPB.