Two Coast governors in panic as graft noose tightens – Weekly Citizen

The arrest and prosecution of three governors who have been forced to stay out of their offices has sent panic to some governors from the Coast who are on the radar of investigative agencies over acts of corruption.
Kwale governor Salim Mvurya and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi are on the spotlight following revelations by the Auditor General that millions of tax payers’ money have been looted through corruption networks.
Among cases documented by the AG is the loss of over Sh200 million. The cash disappeared through proposed dubious development projects used by officers and contractors to rob the county. During the construction of the governor’s office, more than Sh129 million was stolen by officials in collusion with the contractor.
Reports indicate that money began exchanging hands even before the tender was awarded to a company operated by a former county executive in charge of finance who hails from North Eastern Kenya.
The audit queries have in the past become minting venues for some officials who were investigating the anomalies with reports that nearly Sh25 million had been spent to slow down the investigations.

Governor Mvurya

In 2018, there were claims that a team of officers from an investigative agency clashed with those from the Auditor General’s office after one of the team’s was given more money than the other. The bribe it was claimed was meant to distort investigation reports.
At the same time, there is an outcry over alleged numerous power brokers who harass and intimidate contractors to part with bribes failure to which a certificate of completion is denied.
Other than this, there are also extortionists working at the behest of senior officials in the county government who demand for kickbacks upfront before tenders are awarded. This forces contractors to undertake shoddy work in order to recoup the extra expenses, it is being pointed out.
“Unless you pay them bribes demanded you will never get any tender and if you luckily get one, be sure no certificate of completion will be given unless you comply with their demands,” claimed one of the contractors.
Among projects whose quality was compromised due to corrupt deals by county officials Mwakalanga Dam implemented at a cost of over Sh36 million. The cash was allegedly paid upfront to a local contractor, claimed to have paid senior officials nearly half the money to clinch the tender.
According to the Auditor General report, physical verification of the project revealed that excavation work had just been started, whereas supervising engineer’s report indicated that work was complete.
The same under deals also applied to Dziweni water project in Kinango sub-county where a top official was allegedly bribed with Sh2 million and the project ended up being shoddily implemented.
The AG report concluded that the county government was not able to confirm that the money was spent on the construction of the dam during the year ended June 30 2018.

Kingi

The Auditor General report was a clear proof that millions of taxpayers’ money was being looted left, right and centre through such corrupt schemes involving top county administration officials.
The same underhand deals also applied to Dziweni water project in Kinango sub-county where a top official was allegedly bribed with Sh2 million and the project ended up being shoddily implemented.
The Sh7 million project ended up being done poorly because the contractor had to squeeze the project for more profit to compensate for the Sh2 million bribe.
There is also the issue of installation of fibre optical cables by the Kwale county government where over Sh8.4 million could not be accounted for.
The auditor general report questioned the criteria used by the county tender team to dish out the contract for installation of Fibre Backbone Network to a shadowy company.
It also questions as to why Kwale county administration awarded the Sh18.4m tender to a less exposed entity instead of the more established firms like KPLC and Telkom that had also shown interest in the project implementation.
The report blames the county government for paying more money to the local firm to procure for the services at a cost higher by almost Sh15.5 million more than would have been provided by KPLC which is a public institution, resulting to loss of public funds.