Three Kenyan investigative agencies are looking into a gravy train involving a top manager at the Kenya rural roads agency[KERRA].
There has been serious infighting at the roads agency as cartels linked to Director-General Philemon Kandie fight tooth and nail to unseat Margaret Wanja Muthui. According to reports that the chief editor of this site has received, the Kerra DG sought help from Gideon Moi who later reached out to NIS to help him uproot Margaret Wanja Muthui who has made it very hard for the DG to do his deals in peace.
Kandie boasts to be untouchable and allegedly enjoys political protection of Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.
The fierce war on the control of Ksh 200 billion tenders at the Kenya Rural Roads Authority erupted sometime in January this year.
Those in the know revealed that head of procurement Margaret Muthui was being forced out by a cartel out to manage the billions of shillings. Favoured in the deal was Catherine Kangangi whose promotion to head of procurement was not linked to competence but bednastics.
Her papers were questioned and insiders at the time said Muthui was is better qualified to run the procurement department compared to Kangangi, who has been accused of using body magic to land the plum slot that is now being disputed over.
Muthui was transferred to the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works. At the heart of the matter were tenderer worth over Sh200 billion being eyed by powerful forces including Baringo Senator Gideon Moi who lobbied for the appointment of Philemon Kandie as the DG.
Muthui was deployed to the Kerra procurement department in November 2009 and promoted to procurement manager in 2014.
In 2018, there was the restructuring of the organisation where all senior managers were directed to sign three-year contracts as per the government’s directives. Muthui was on February 9 this year deployed to work at the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works where she reported two days later only to take sick leave on February 15 having been seen at City ENT Clinic.
She used the leave to contact her lawyers to sue her employer. On February 12, she instructed N O Sumba and Company Advocates to file a case against Kerra and the ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works. The case E019 of 2021 was filed under a certificate of urgency and the file placed before Justice James Rika who ruled the court could not reverse the letter of February 10 on an exparte application and directed the petitioner to serve the respondents.
He fixed the hearing for February 26. But instead of Muthui effecting service, she instructed Chesikaw Kiprop Advocates on February 23 to file another case (Petition E027 of 2021) against her employer (Kerra) and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works. The petition was also filed under a certificate of urgency and placed before Justice Maureen Onyango who suspended the letter dated February 10 and fixed the inter parte hearing on March 15. But on March 3, her former advocates N O Sumba and Company Advocates filed a notice of change of advocates to replace Chesikaw Kiprop Advocates. Kerra board had on February 10 appointed Kangangi acting procurement manager. Sources added that when she reported at Kerra, she found Kangangi had already occupied the office.
Kandie has been unable to control Kerra and as days elapse, he is becoming more and more desperate.
An insider at KeRRA revealed how Kandie is feared to an extent no one ever wishes to share a lift with him. A story is told of how, at one time, he summoned Julius Gakubia to his office. On arrival, Gakubia sweated profusely as Kandie with his eyes turning red told him he had transferred him from the plum maintenance department to strategic. Gakubia tells those who want to hear that that was the day the ground almost swallowed him and he will never visit Kandie’s office if alone.
To Gakubia, Kandie has warrior blood in his system. Two engineers we talked to revealed that they are forced by Kandie to allegedly manipulate reports in favour of the highest bidders as Kandie plants cronies in strategic departments to rake in millions in kickbacks. We have in our possession volumes of documents about tender manipulations some that have even landed at Public Procurement Authority. A list of construction firms being favoured across counties ’ projects is also available.
According to sources, top managers have registered firms using and operated by relatives and friends as proxies that win lucrative tenders and payments made promptly. That Kandie is openly engaged in witch-hunting and sexual harassment of staff. One of them is none other than Margaret Wanja Muthui who is now fighting tooth and nail to continue with her looting making Kandie’s cartels grow desperate.
Investigations have revealed an intricate ploy to defraud the Kenyan taxpayer hundreds of millions of shillings through inflated contracts involving Chinese and local road construction companies that are awarded mouthwatering road construction deals and in exchange provide kickbacks paid in cash or through the construction of high-end real estate in various parts of Nairobi.
On Tuesday 22nd June Asset recovery agency obtained orders from the high court freezing the assets of the main suspects Margaret Wanja Muthui who is the deputy supply chain manager at Kenya rural roads agency [KERRA]. Esther Wagio Njunge works for Safaricom PLC as a regional sales manager.
DCI is looking at preferring charges of abuse of office and money laundering against the two through LIGHTHOUSE trading company limited.
Kenya revenue authority [KRA] is also looking at calculating tax arrears on the over 1 billion worth of assets laundered by the two and slapping them with a fine.
The investigation has for the first time revealed how proceeds from the lucrative road tenders are laundered through proxies who invest on behalf of corrupt government mandarins. In the case under investigation and as per court documents filed in the anti-corruption economic crime court under certificate of urgency, the documents paint a picture of the intricate theft of public resources through government tender In October 2019, investigations revealed that Wanja had purchased 11 units of luxurious signature apartments in Kileleshwa at the cost of three hundred million Kenyan shillings [300,000,000] which she paid for in cash. The payments were made between July and September 2019. The large cash payment was made hurriedly due to the currency demonetization process which Kenya’s central bank was undertaking at the time.
On the 31st of May 2019, the Kenyan government had effected a major economic change by demonetizing the old Ksh. 1000-shilling banknote. The government issued a 122-day notice ahead of full withdrawal of its old 1000-shilling banknotes out of circulation by October 1, 2019.
Further investigations revealed that WANJA had enrolled the services of her nieces, Esther Wagio Njunge who works at Safaricom PLC Kenya limited as a regional sales manager and Alice Wacuka Njunge to register a company under the name LIGHT HOUSE TRADING COMPANY LIMITED which was used to purchase the houses.
The company had initially been registered by her brother-in-law JOSEPH NJUNGE MATHU and her sister JOYCE WANJIKU NJUNGE who later resigned as directors of the company and passed on its directorship to ALICE WACUKA NJUNGE and ESTHER WAGIO NJUNGE.
WANJA also enlisted the services of her elder sister GRACE NYAMBURA NDIRITU and her two daughters MERCY WAMBUI NYAMBURA and CYNTHIA WANJIKU NYAMBURA to register for properties on her behalf. The properties include apartment number C2 and C3 and C16 at signature residence Kileleshwa.
Further investigations revealed that WANJA had used her sister JOYCE NJUNGE MATHU to construct a mixed-use commercial building in Githurai – Ruiru sub county Kiambu County.
WANJA is involved in high level corruption which involves awarding Chinese road construction companies through favors. She used her position as deputy director procurement to amass wealth during her tenure.
COMPANIES:
- LIGHT HOUSE TRADING COMPANY LIMITED – DIRECTORS; ESTHER WAGIO NJUNGE & ALICE WACUKA NJUNGE
- EVERYDAY COMPANY LIMITED -DIRECTOR; ESTHER WAGIO NJUNGE
- HAVEL COMPANY LIMITED- DIRECTOR SYLVESTER KURIA THIGA
- MAROON ESTATES LIMITED- KRA PIN P051929768J DIRECTOR [FAITH AMANI WANJIKU WANJA ID; 29695123 TEL; 0711790396]
- EN-GEDI LIMITED – KRA PIN P051588716Z DIRECTOR ANNE WAMBUI NJUNGE ID: 26365555 TEL: 0718007680ZEMALTIES INVESTMENTS LIMITED KRA PIN P051976450V DIRECTOR- JOSEPH NJUNGE MATHU ID: 1843473
The full ARA Vs Light Case is attached hereunder
[embeddoc url=”https://cnyakundi.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ARA-Vs-Light-House-2.pdf”]
