VIDEO: Lawyer Ndegwa Njiru Harass Ann Waiguru’s Witness
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru (pictured) has been accused of irregular award of tenders to a fictitious company by the name of Velocity Limited.Her first witness Carilus Otieno, the director of the county’s supply chain, appeared before the Senate hearing on impeachment of Waiguru, insisted that Velocty company existed rubbishing claims of the existence of two companies.Mr Otieno on Tuesday told the senators it was an issue of a typo in one of the paragraphs in the documents and that the company qualified for the tender and no irregular payment had been done.
“I can confirm that the contractual company is Velocty. The issue of two companies was being pegged on a small typo one with an i and another without, which was in one of the paragraphs in the contract document. There are no two companies as claimed,” he testified, adding that the errors were immaterial and needed to be overlooked.“The contract with the wrong spelling was drawn by the legal team which still captured the typo. They may have overlooked it because of time and volumes of the document,” Otieno said.But lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, who is appearing for the county assembly when cross-examining the witness, said the two names, Velocity and Velocty, had appeared in various documents presented before the senators.MCAs lawyer Ndegwa Njiru went on to pick out discrepancies in awarding of a tender to the contentious company, that MCAs claimed did not qualify.Njiru who appeared before the 11-member special committee, chaired by Kakamega Senator Cleopas Malala also pointed out that there was a conflict of interest in tendering processes.
According to the documents before the Senate committee, Pauline Kamau participated in several tenders that are questionable, a matter which Mr Otieno agreed. But he argued it was not a matter of favoritism. MCAs impeachment motion accused Waiguru of appointing her former PA Pauline Kamau as director administration.They were concerned that Pauline and ICT director Gichira Wayne alternated in chairing tender committees.Otieno had earlier told the senators that the two officers have only chaired three tender evaluation committees since 2017 and that they never sat in the same tender committee.
Allegations
Governor Waiguru has been accused of gross violation of the Constitution, undermining the authority of the county assembly, violations under written law, and abuse of office and gross misconduct, charges which she has dismissed.The governor has accused the members of the county assembly behind her impeachment of engaging in a witchhunt.The MCAs, on the other hand, have described the governor as a corrupt leader who has disregarded their role as the overseers.Mutira Ward MCA David Kinyua, who is the sponsor of the Motion, said the impeachment was the last option.The MCAs have accused the governor of ordering the closure of 20 dispensaries and sacking 400 casual health works, which triggered industrial action by nurses and doctors.
Kinyua also accused the governor of having received Sh10.6 million as an imprest for a foreign trip to the US and Italy, which he claimed the governor never made.The MCAs also claim the governor irregularly purchased a vehicle with a loan from a local bank that was never approved by the county assembly.
Source-standardmedia.co.ke
