President Uhuru directed National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to clear the payments in order for Kenya to float an international sovereign bond worth Sh134 billion to help finance the over-Sh350 billion deficit in the 2014/15 Budget estimates.
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – It has emerged that Kenya is not out of the woods yet, despite paying Sh1.4 billion to two shadowy Anglo Leasing type companies.
Businessman Anura Perrera, who is linked to the firms that received Sh1.4 billion through a UK law firm on Monday, has apparently sent a fresh demand note asking for Sh3.1 billion for what her terms as a pending contract.
Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge told the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee that Perrera claims the money is for a pending project at the National Intelligence Service.
Perrera is linked to First Mercantile and Universal Satspace, which the government paid Sh1.4 billion.
PAC chairman Ababu Namwamba has now directed the PS to present the latest demand note from Perrera.
On Wednesday, the PS found himself in trouble after he failed to present President Uhuru Kenyatta’s letter authorising Monday’s payment to the two firms, after only producing a copy of an email from State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu.
Namwamba has warned that the government risks being declared to have acted illegally in directing the Anglo Leasing payments if Treasury fails to produce the authorisation letter.
Thugge admitted that the Sh1.4 billion payout for the two firms associated with the Anglo Leasing judgment debts was done on Monday this week, but without written authorisation from the President.
NatWest Bank of the UK was the transaction bank for the payments, under Account Number 00859184, held by the Travers Smith law firm. The money was wired in dollars by the Central Bank via SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications), a global money transfer system.
Thugge told the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee that the payments for the supply of bandwidth and VSAT equipment for the Postal Corporation of Kenya were fully delivered but overvalued.
On Thursday last week, President Uhuru directed National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to clear the payments in order for Kenya to float an international sovereign bond worth Sh134 billion to help finance the over-Sh350 billion deficit in the 2014/15 Budget estimates.
About The Author
