Minister Ngilu ‘stormed water board meetings’

By Martin Mutua and Alex Ndegwa

Water minister on three occasions interrupted a meeting of the Board of a State Corporation in her docket.

National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation (NWCPC) chairman, Geoffrey Mang’uriu, claimed Ngilu "stormed" the board meeting held on November 4, last year, at the ministry headquarters to discuss irregular Local Purchase Orders (LPO) worth Sh10 million.

Ghost suppliers

Mang’uriu told Parliament’s Lands and Natural Resources Committee that the minister burst into the boardroom on three occasions and each time asked that he left the chair so "she would chair the meeting herself".

The subject of the meeting was the LPOs for the procurement of GI pipes, which had been signed by the managing director, Petronilla Ogut, without supporting documentation, including quotations, he added.

The committee chaired by Siakago MP, Mutava Musyimi, is investigating fraudulent procurements by NWCPC, including the award of tenders for construction of dams, inflation of prices and payments to ghost suppliers.