PAC Chairman Nicholas Gumbo informed the House that Committee members had resolved to invite the two after analysing their written submissions/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 1 – Senate Deputy Minority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen’s law firm has now been invited to appear before Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday next week to shed light on their role in the siphoning of the Sh1.6 billion from National Youth Service (NYS) funds in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).
This comes after details emerged showing that Sing’oei Murkomen and Sigei (SMS) Advocates, a law firm owned by Murkomen and Ruto’s legal advisor Korir Sing’oei, received Sh15 million from Out of the Box Solutions said to be linked to the NYS scandal.
PAC Chairman Nicholas Gumbo informed the House that Committee members had resolved to invite the two after analysing their written submissions.
The Committee had previously resolved to request Deputy President William Ruto’s aide Farouk Kibet and Murkomen to provide written submissions. It would then invite them for grilling depending on the contents of their submissions.
“The Committee has since received written submissions from Farouk Kibet which it is considering. On the other hand the law firm had as at the lapse of the deadline given to them by the Committee not submitted the required information. This morning, Mr. Speaker, the Committee met and collectively gave instructions that they should be invited to make an appearance before the Committee on Thursday, December 08, 2016 at 10am,” he said in a statement delivered during Thursday House Sitting.
The two have been mentioned adversely in connection with the receipt of proceeds from the multibillion shillings scam where a law firm linked to Murkomen is said to have been paid Sh15 million to a company contracted by the Ministry of Devolution and Planning for consultancy.
Kibet is said to have received Sh1 million from NYS fraud suspect Ben Gethi and called him 150 times during the fraud.
In a press statement, Murkomen, who is also the Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator, said the firm represents a wide spectrum of clientele and that it had never received payment from any NYS contractor.
“Our client, Out of the Box Solutions, has never worked or been contracted by NYS. The allegations by Ms Waiguru through her agents that our law firm was paid legal fees amounting to Sh15 million is a figment of her imagination,” he said.
“SMS Advocates received funds on its clients account for and on behalf of its client, Messrs Out of the Box Solutions Limited. This payment was not legal fees as alleged. We can also authoritatively confirm that our client was never at any time contracted by NYS or its agents.”
ODM chairman John Mbadi (Suba) who is also a member of PAC had petitioned Gumbo to invite the duo for deeper interrogation to protect the public interest in the ongoing probe into the intricate web with regard to the Sh1.6 billion siphoned from NYS.
About The Author
