Governor Kingi was first questioned over the alleged purchase of 11 acres of bus park land at Sh308 million after revelations that the money was split and wired to 10 different entities/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 29 – Governor Amason Kingi was on Monday grilled for more than eight hours by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives over the alleged massive loss of public resources in Kilifi County.
Kingi who was accompanied by his Mombasa counterpart Hassan Joho and his lawyer Senator James Orengo, was hard-pressed to explain how millions of shillings were spent.
He was tasked to explain queries involving alleged loss of public money according to Senator Orengo, who addressed journalists at the conclusion of the questioning.
Governor Kingi was first questioned over the alleged purchase of 11 acres of bus park land at Sh308 million after revelations that the money was split and wired to 10 different entities.
“Nothing has been shown or pointed to us that was irregular or unlawful. The Commission must to do what is duty bound,” the Senator stated. “Everything that was required of the Governor was completely fulfilled.”
Detectives were keen to understand why the Kilifi County Government paid Sh28 million per acre, a price that has been termed very high.
According to EACC officials, Kingi was required to illustrate how the transaction was done and who authorised it.
The other issues was on the Sh51 million scandal that was siphoned using the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and another Sh34million paid to two suppliers.
Kingi however was the complainant on this, according to Orengo since he acted as a whistleblower.
Kilifi County Government has since obtained court orders compelling the National Government to freeze the assets and accounts implicated in the alleged scandal.
The five companies include Daima One Enterprises, Leadership Edge Associates, Kilingi Investment, Makegra Supplies and Zohali Supplies over the scandal.
The orders further compel Consolidated Bank, Diamond Trust Bank, Jamii Bora Bank and Equity Bank to provide detailed bank account statements of the five companies they handled.
Already, 10 county officials whose IFMIS passwords are said to have been used to steal the funds have been suspended.
Senator Orengo at the same time accused the Jubilee Government of trying to divert the war on graft by ‘attacking’ Kingi, while cautioning that, “we were more determined to expose corruption.”
“This is one issue that Jubilee is trying to use…they know nothing about it. These are mere speculations that are being made here.”
To him, “a lot of time has been wasted at EACC. This is a small matter that could have been solved at the office.”
On Sunday, Kingi described himself as a whistle-blower and not a suspect.
“I am the one who walked into EACC and told them there’s this matter, kindly move in to investigate and the procedure is the complainant is the first person to make a statement and that’s why I’ll be moving to EACC.”
“If fighting corruption is a crime which attracts the penalty of stepping aside then I will but if fighting corruption is a virtue, then I’m not stepping aside.”
His party leader Raila Odinga, who is notably known for demanding that those linked to corruption in the national government step aside, has ironically not demanded the same of Kingi and hailed him as an example on how administrators should handle cases of corruption.
READ: Raila joins governors in blaming IFMIS for loss of monies in counties
Like Governors he has called for a review of the system and supported their calls for a forensic audit in order to establish how much has been lost through manipulation of the system.
About The Author
