Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officials arrest Amos Kimunya over alleged public land scam

Former Cabinet Minister Amos Kimunya leaves Integrity Centre after grilling by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officials on corruption charges. [PHOTO  MBUGUA KIBERA/ STANDARD]

By CYRUS OMBATI and STANDARD REPORTER

Nairobi, Kenya: Former Cabinet Minister Amos Kimunya was on Friday evening arrested by anti-graft detectives over alleged irregular allocation of public land in Nyandarua County.

His arrest came hours after Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko had authorised charges against him over alleged abuse of office and fraudulent disposal and acquisition of public property. The directive followed an investigation and recommendation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The detectives picked him up from a city hotel and took him to Integrity Centre to record a statement in preparation for prosecution.

EACC spokesman Yassin Amaro said Mr Kimunya would take plea on Monday.

“He is in our offices being prepared for plea. The issue of if he will be granted bond or not will be known later,” said Mr Amaro.

Other officials said the former Cabinet minister was likely to be freed if he raised the required cash bail or reached an agreement with the investigating officers.

“It is upon the officers handling the case to grant him bond or not but there is a likelihood he will be bonded until Monday when he takes his plea,” said an officer aware of the probe.

Kimunya served in the Kibaki government as minister for finance, lands and transport.

The charges are in connection with a 25-acre piece of public land in Njambini, Nyandarua County, which was part of 75 acres belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture reserved for a potatoe seed multiplication project.

Sufficient evidence

Kimunya is alleged to have caused the land to be allocated to M/s Midlands Limited when he was the Minister for Lands without consent from the Ministry of Agriculture.

There are claims that the former Kipipiri MP is a director and a shareholder in the said company. He will be charged alongside Lilian Njenga who is the former Director of Land Adjudication and the Chairman of the Board of M/s Midlands Limited Junghae Wainaina.

“The DPP is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to prosecute the said persons,’’ Tobiko said in a statement sent to newsrooms on Friday. The DPP, however, said the suspects are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial.

EACC had been investigating the issue since last year when a complaint was lodged with the commission.

Kimunya spearheaded mega infrastructure projects during the Kibaki regime, many of which were clouded with controversy.

During his tenure as Transport Minister he vehemently opposed the Sh55.5 billion Greenfield Terminal that was approved by Kenya Airports Authority board in March 2011.

Despite the ministry giving a nod to the procurement process in October 2011 and tender awarded in December that year, Kimunya cancelled the project in January 2012.

This was in defiance to advice from Parliament, the Attorney General’s Office and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Shockingly, the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority evaluated the project and declared it to be in accordance with the law. It termed Kimunya’s action illegal.

The delay for more than a year saw Jomo Kenyatta International Airport lose business to its competitors in the region such as Rwanda and South Africa.

However, a ground-breaking ceremony was conducted by President Uhuru Kenyatta in December last year.

Even with his conspicuous failures, former President Kibaki retained the former MP in key dockets. In 2008, pressure mounted on him, then as Finance Minister, to resign over the Grand Regency sale. Kimunya had been accused of directing the no-bid nature of the sale, the secrecy under which it was negotiated, the identity of the buyers, and the price of the luxury hotel- reportedly Sh2.9 billion.

One wonders then why President Kibaki retained and reappointed Kimunya to several substantive cabinet dockets despite earning a vote of no confidence in Parliament and being implicated in a myriad of mega-scams that impacted not just on Vision 2030 timetable, but also had profound effect on the Kenyan economy as well.

This saw Parliament declare Kimunya, unfit to hold public office.

But it is the De la Rue currency printing deal which almost brought Kimunya on his knees.

Revoking

According to the Public Accounts Committee, taxpayers’ lost more than Sh1.8 billion in the deal signed with the Central Bank of Kenya.

He was accused of revoking a 10-year money printing contract CBK had with De La Rue and instead campaigned for short term contracts.

And in February this year, the Parliamentary Investment Committee investigating the Standard Gauge Railway tender threatened to bar Kimunya from holding public office for defying summons over the probe on the controversial Sh447 billion tender. PIC chairman Adan Keynan declared the former Kipipiri MP a hostile witness.