EACC wants Shollei charged over Chief Justice’s house

n its recommendation to the Director Public Prosecutions, the commission has found that there is sufficient evidence to prove that the Sh310 million residence was irregularly procured/FILE

In its recommendation to the Director Public Prosecutions, the commission has found that there is sufficient evidence to prove that the Sh310 million residence was irregularly procured.

It has also recommended the prosecution of Shollei’s former deputy Kakai Kissinger who chaired the Judiciary’s tender committee, as well as those who were members of the committee at the time.

Shollei’s successor Atieno Amadi told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a year ago that despite paying for the Runda residence in full, the Judiciary did not posses its ownership documents.

“We’ve paid for it fully and I have communicated with the lawyer to find out whether the purchase price has been released because the transfer was never signed,” she explained.

Kakai, interdicted by the Judicial Service Commission at the time, admitted to PAC that the process of procuring the residence was irregular and he would carry out the tendering process in a different way given another chance.

He told PAC, chaired by Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba at the time, that the committee did not wait for a complete valuation to be carried out on the residence before awarding the tender to Johnson Nduya Muthama Holdings Limited, a company owned by Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama.

And in a letter presented to Kakai by Namwamba, it emerged that the valuer was unable to submit a final report as they were unclear on the exact acreage of the property among other details without which the tender committee went ahead to award the tender.

“Chair I tried to do what I could in the circumstances,” Kakai defended himself.

Kakai blamed the shortcomings of the tender committee on the fast pace of transformation in the Judiciary and a heavy reliance on consultants but denied being a ceremonial chair or a “flower girl” as put to him by Namwamba.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga had also been scheduled to appear before the committee to offer up an explanation for why US Marshals had to be flown into the country to evaluate the property’s security.

During the PAC hearings, it emerged that the Chief Justice refused to move into the property.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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