EACC on Thursday put Iimpeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at the centre of the Sh3.7 billion mosquito nets scandal, a key issue in the DP’s ouster motion.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission deputy chief executive officer Abdi Mohamud drew a link between Crystal Kenya Limited and Gachagua’s two sons.
Crystal Kenya Limited is a local agent to Shobika Impex Limited, a company that tendered for the lucrative mosquito nets tender.
“From the documents we have, it is clear the company directors are the two sons of the DP and that is the nexus between the DP and that particular company,” Mohamud told the Senate.
He told of spirited attempts to favour Shobika Impex Limited.
The irregularities, he noted, led to the cancellation of the tendering process.
Amongst the irregularities, he told the Senate, was the change of mosquito nets specifications to suit Shobikaa Impex and its local agent Crystal Kenya Limited.
“In totality, from the investigation, we realised that the PS at that time did write to the CEO of Kemsa compelling the CEO to change the specifications so that it can fit the chemical that was to be provided by Shobika Impex Limited, whose local agent was Crystal Kenya Limited. Basically that was the starting point,” Mohamud told the Senate.
All these, he noted, were to ensure that Shobikaa Impex got time to submit their bill bonds.
“There was direct favouritism to Shobikaa,” he said.
Mohamud was appearing before the Senate sitting that is considering the impeachment of DP Gachagua.
According to Mohamud, there was an external hand trying to micromanage the multi-billion shilling tendering process.
“There are two conclusions you can make being either the officers were bribed or there was pressure coming from somewhere,” Mohamud said.
Earlier, former Kemsa boss Andrew Mulwa had disclosed that the Deputy President called him around July 11, 2023 with instructions to hand over the original bid bond of the company to its local agent.
His son would later follow with another phone call inquiring about the status of the very bill bond.
“As a junior official, there was nothing I could do against a Deputy President,” Mulwa says in his sworn affidavit.
It is this linkage that the motion mover and Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse is leveraging on to tighten his case against Gachagua.
Should the senators uphold even one charge out of the 11, then the DP stands impeached.
According to Mutuse, the phone call to the procuring agency amounted to conflict of interest which he wants the Senate to consider as an impeachable offence
. The deputy EACC CEO however clarified that the commission has no submission saying DP influenced the tender. Mohamud was summoned to furnish the house with information on the investigations into the Sh3.7 billion mosquito nets saga.
The anti-graft agency was also to testify on the gifts received by the Deputy Presidents as well as conflict of interest in the multi-billion shilling tender.
On the gifts, Mohamud said anything exceeding Sh20,000 shall within 48 hours of reporting to the public entity surrender it.
During his media address to the nation last week on Monday, the DP attributed the success of his dairy farm as largely due to the generosity of the Kalenjin community.
The DP said he has received as gifts numerous cows from neighbours in the Rift Valley regions.
“Conflict of interest amounts to personal interest of spouse, child, business associates or agents or other matters. If a state officer feels conflicted, he should declare the same,” Mohamed said.
“EACC hasn’t received any register of gifts from the DP.”
The EACC official however clarified that the commission is yet to investigate Crystal Kenya Limited.