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Harakhe’s NYS password not hacked, Muhoro tells MPs

Muhoro told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that investigations have concluded that Harakhe’s password to the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) was not stolen/FILE

Muhoro told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that investigations have concluded that Harakhe’s password to the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) was not stolen/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5 – Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro on Wednesday ruled out claims by suspended National Youth Service (NYS) Deputy Director -General Adan Harakhe that his password was hacked and used to make a fraudulent transactions worth Sh695 million.

Muhoro told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that investigations have concluded that Harakhe’s password to the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS) was not stolen.

He said the agency sought an independent expert opinion from the IFMIS Consultants who said that hacking the IFMIS system is virtually impossible.

“IFMIS is a secure and solid system. It is not prone to hacking unless users share their confidential passwords,” Muhoro stated.

The Report suggests Harakhe could have shared his password with a third party, could have written it down on a paper or enabled his browser to remember the password.

But the DCI Cyber Crime Unit dismissed the third option saying they could not log on to the system through using the history of internet sites he visited as indicated on the browser.

The consultants further found that there are occasions where Harakhe cancelled some transactions once he discovered he had not approved them.

The DCI’s own Cyber Crime Unit led by Chief Inspector David Kipruto said they also conducted a forensic probe on the NYS computer systems and further established that the suspended NYS Deputy DG approved some of the transactions that led to the loss of Sh791 million.

Kipruto stated that their probe also shows Harakhe’s username was used in approving the transactions.

He however noted that the suspended NYS chief used obsolete software without a virus protection could have contributed to a poor cyber password protection system.

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Harakhe, who appeared before the Committee last week, claimed that when he realised that his password had been hacked, he went to the DCI and reported the interference of his system.

“Key figures in the Ministry and the Service had laid the plan to steal the money by all means, including hacking my password. I am sure had I not raised red alert, they could have succeeded in taking away the millions,” said Harakhe.

Muhoro told the MPs that they are on the trail of Sh1.8billion that could have been lost through fraudulent transactions at NYS.

He said they were investigating 21 companies suspected to have benefitted and won tenders amounting to Sh999 million.

According to the DCI boss, 19 of the companies are directly linked to Josephine Kabura while the remaining two belong to Ben Gethi.

DCI investigations has so far confirmed that funds were stolen from the NYS Fund by suspects inflating the price indicated on purchase orders by adding zeroes to the transaction amounts.

This resulted in companies belonging to Kabura earning hundreds of millions of shillings above the contract amounts.

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