Members of the Kitui County Assembly have launched investigations into the circumstances under which their Speaker Kevin Kinengo was detained by Dubai authorities for two weeks over an alleged unpaid county debt of Sh8.9 million.
The County Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) has summoned several officials including the acting County Attorney to explain why a court case filed at a United Arab Emirates Federal Court in 2021 was not defended, occasioning the detention of Mr Kinengo.
JLAC Committee chairman Cyrus Musyoka on Monday, August 5, said the travel embargo had embarrassed the County Assembly and should have been avoided if county officials acted diligently on the court claim.
Mr Musyoka, the MCA for Ikanga/Kyatune Ward, told Nation.Africa that there was no commitment on the part of Kitui County to the Dubai-based Consultancy firm, casting further doubts on the whole saga.
“My committee will be seeking full disclosure of the Dubai court case from the Executive when the suit papers were served, and why it was never defended” said Mr Musyoka.
The committee also wants to establish if Kitui County government issued a Local Service Order (LSO) or signed any contract with the Dubai firm, which moved to a UAE Federal Court and successfully obtained a decree award and further orders to detain top county officials who happened to transit through Dubai until the debt was fully settled.
The MCA said the county government should have sought legal assistance from the Attorney General’s office and Kenya’s Mission in UAE to deal with the issue as provided for in law.
The probe by the County Assembly comes as it emerged that the Sh8.9 million Dubai debt to bail out the Speaker was not officially paid by the county but was informally fundraised by top Kitui officials and well-wishers including contractors who do business with the county.
County Finance Chief Officer John Makau confirmed that no public funds were spent on bailing out the Speaker, as the government’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) wasn’t operational.
The Ifmis portal has been disabled since the last financial year elapsed, as a matter of routine procedure.
Speaker Kinengo, who had been in Dubai on official business, was barred from travelling back to Kenya on the evening of Wednesday, July 10, 2024, after police at Dubai International Airport effected a court-imposed travel ban on top Kitui County officials.
He had to stay in Dubai for 15 days until Thursday, July 25th, when he was allowed to travel after county officials back home frantically worked to settle the claim and have the embargo lifted.
The travel embargo arose after TBLDC Group, a Dubai firm, moved to court claiming that Kitui County had contracted them to organise the participation of former Governor Charity Ngilu and a delegation of 15 officials in the 2021 Dubai Expo, which ran from October 17 to 26, that year.
County Solicitor Timothy Mwange who is acting as County Attorney declined to discuss the matter but interviews with several officials who requested anonymity due to the political heat generated by the issue confirmed the suit wasn't defended at all despite the legal department receiving numerous court summons to attend the Dubai court hearings virtually.
"The County Attorney's office received the suit papers written in Arabic but failed to get them translated to English and understand the basis of the court case" said a senior official conversant with the matter.
The firm claimed in court that it paid registration fees to participate in the Dubai Expo, Hotel reservations, Airport transfers and other services for the Kitui delegation, at a cost of 55,000 US Dollars only for the county government to cancel attendance on the day the Trade Symposium began.
This translated to about Sh6 million, as per the 2021 average dollar exchange rate of Sh109.6 against the Kenya Shilling.
Governor Ngilu's 16-person delegation to the nine-day Dubai Expo included the then Assembly Speaker George Ndotto, two County Executive Committee Members, two Chief Officers and nine Members of County Assembly.
The Dubai court ruled in favour of the firm regarding the unchallenged claim and the legal costs, with an interest of 10 percent per month. The county ended up paying 67,000 US Dollars or Sh8.94 million.
After the court judgment, the consultancy firm went further and obtained a travel embargo against the Governor, his deputy, the County Minister for Finance and the County Assembly Speaker.
The travel ban meant that any of the four top county officials would be arrested and detained once they stepped on Dubai soil either visiting or transiting to other destinations, until the claim was fully granted.
It is on this basis that Speaker Kinengo unknowingly walked into the trap long laid even before he assumed office in 2023.
Upon reaching the airport to catch his return flight to Nairobi, the airport authorities told him they could not clear him to travel as there was a red alert, and referred him to the local courts.
In an interview with Nation.Africa, the Speaker narrated the ordeal of being detained in a foreign land over mistakes he knew nothing about. Earlier, he publicly spoke about the issue during the Annual Kitui Agricultural and Trade Fair at Ithookwe showground.
He said that he was taken to a local court where he was directed to a portal to retrieve the details of the case, which were also in Arabic.
“I wasn't under arrest or in Dubai police custody, I was free to go anywhere within the city but I couldn't leave the country as my details had been circulated in all the exit points" said Mr Kinengo adding the travel ban could only be lifted by the claimant after receiving their dues.
He added: "I contacted Governor Julius Malombe and briefed him about my predicament, who in turn swiftly convened an emergency cabinet meeting to work out a solution" he explained adding he was only allowed to board a rescheduled flight to Nairobi after the county paid the claim and Dubai courts vacated the embargo.
However, contacted for comment, Mr Zakayo Kimanzi who served as County Secretary under Governor Ngilu said the county had not committed itself nor signed any contract with the Dubai firm.
"I know about that case, but that claim is illegitimate because we never issued any Local Purchase Order to the Dubai firm which is the only legal document that binds a county as a procuring entity into a formal contract," said Mr Kimanzi.
The former official said the Malombe administration should have defended the case once summoned by Dubai courts and demanded proof of any contractual engagement.
"Governor Ngilu and her delegation didn't attend the Dubai Expo. We cancelled the trip because it was too expensive, so the current administration paid for services not rendered" said Mr Kimanzi.
