Former Treasury CS Ukur Yatani has revealed that immediately after the August 9 elections, he was prevailed upon to disburse Sh1.59 billion to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's office.
In a statement on Wednesday, Yatani said the request was made in line with Article 223 of the Constitution which empowers the Treasury CS to release funds under special circumstances without parliamentary approval.
"It included Sh300 million for cars and Sh300 million for hospitality, a request that I did not grant in full but considered an amount of Sh500 million due to the financial constraints we had at the time," Yatani said.
"This information like all others is in the public domain and I have nothing to hide because of the nature of operations at National Treasury."
Yatani explained that under Article 223 of the Constitution, any expenditure not appropriated by Parliament but deemed necessary for the running of government can be incurred and approved by Parliament at a later date within two months.
He said this was the same constitutional path that Controller of Budgets Margaret Nyakang'o used to approve the Sh15 billion she told the National Assembly Public Petitions committee on Tuesday that he pressured her to give the nod.
"If indeed the Sh15 billion was approved with the intention of stealing, why did it find itself in the current Supplementary Budget?" Yatani asked.
In the statement, the former Treasury boss termed Nyakang'o's claims as false and malicious saying he is contemplating suing her.
"This depiction is libellous and defamatory to my character and professional service to the public in many capacities. I have instructed my lawyers to study her utterances and advice on a lawsuit against her person," Yatani said.
He said the Sh15 billion which Nyakang'o insinuated were stolen were meant for the construction of a KDF hospital, Lamu-Garissa and Garissa-Isiolo roads, and fuel and maize subsidies to cushion Kenyans against the cost of living.
"If there is any doubt in the mind of the public regarding the said expenditure, I invite the constitutional office of the Auditor General to scrutinise this expenditure. And I am confident that she will vindicate my actions," Yatani said.