Jubilee vice chairman, David Murathe, was made signatory of a company that won a Sh4 billion tender with the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) due to his powerful political connections, a Parliamentary committee was told yesterday.
Wilbroad Gatei Gachoka, who together with Chinese national Zhu Jumping incorporated Kilig Limited that later bagged the multi-billion shilling contract with Kemsa, yesterday told MPs that Mr Murathe was invited to the company to assure his Chinese partner that he was connected to people in authority.
As the vice chair of the ruling Jubilee party, Mr Murathe has direct access to President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the party leader, and a host of other people in the top ranks of the country’s political hierarchy.
“I’m sure even you as MPs have dealt with the Chinese. The Chinese culture is that they respect a person in authority and position,” Mr Gatei told the National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee.
The Committee is investigating the Sh7.8 billion Kemsa scandal, in which Kenyan taxpayers suffered huge losses due to irregular allocation of tenders for supplies of Covid-19 medical equipment. The irregular tenders were christened the “Covid millionaires” scandal.
Kilig Limited was awarded a Sh4 billion tender to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to Kemsa, a transaction that it then sub-contracted a Chinese company, Entec Technology Limited.
The Chinese company, according to Mr Gatei, then demanded assurance that they would get paid by Kilig after Kemsa had released the Sh4 billion tender amount. It is then that Kilig and Entec settled on Mr Murathe.
In his affidavit to the committee, Mr Chen Chao, the director of Entec, said that he knows Mr Murathe and even described him as ‘respectable high-standing member of society of Kenya’.
The remarks by Mr Gatei now tie with the claims that MPs had made earlier, that Mr Murathe used his proximity to power to win the tender for Kilig.
Mr Gatei who was questioned by the MPs in a separate session from Mr Murathe, said he is not a “Covid millionaire” since the Sh4 billion contract was cancelled and he was not paid anything.
“I was not paid even a single cent,” Mr Gatei said.
Never been paid any money
Mr Gatei, who was at times incoherent and contradictory in his submission to the committee, at one point asked that the hearing be done in camera, claiming the information that he wanted to share with the committee was sensitive.
“There are things that I would like to say without the press because they are things that cannot be taken lightly,” Mr Gatei said.
The MPs, however, claimed that Mr Gatei was just a proxy in the Sh4 billion tender.
“You are clearly a proxy in this business coalition and you are not helping Kenyans at all,” Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang told him.
Appearing before the same committee yesterday, Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe distanced himself from the Sh7.8 billion scandal, asserting that he has never supplied anything to Kemsa and has never been paid any money.
Mr Murathe, a close confidant of President Kenyatta, also said he has never been a director of Kilig Limited.
He, once again, dragged the name of Deputy President William Ruto into the little known company.
Mr Murathe claimed that close associates of DP Ruto are signatories to a bank account that Kilig has at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).
Mr Murathe challenged the Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir led committee to independently verify the information with the bank. He added that he had provided the same information to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) when he appeared before them in September last year.
The vocal Jubilee politician furnished the committee with documents to prove his allegations and implored the lawmakers to also carry out independent investigations on the matter.
"I have given you documents, this committee has powers to do its own investigations and establish the truth that the owners of this account are associates of the DP," Mr Murathe said.
"Real directors of this company are associates of the DP and this Committee can find out that. These are official documents that I have given you. Let this committee find out who the signatories of that account are. This is information that can be verified and this committee has powers to do that,” Mr Murathe added.
The chairman said that the committee would do its own investigations and write to the bank to independently verify the information provided by Mr Murathe.
“These are words of Mr Murathe, we will have to do our own fact-finding as a committee. We will write to KCB as well as to Kemsa to give us all their correspondents with Kilig,” Mr Nassir said.
In a stormy and chaotic session with MPs that at one time degenerated into a shouting march, Mr Murathe told the committee that he has suffered from negative publicity over the Covid millionaires link as the public thinks he pocketed Sh4 billion.
"It is sad when we allow innuendos to carry the day. I never supplied even a single mask to Kemsa. You have put me into a lot of trouble and my relatives think I have a lot of money," Mr Murathe said.
Mr Murathe said he never benefited after guaranteeing both Kilig and Entec, claiming he did it out of goodwill to help his friends get business at Kemsa.
He also denied using his proximity to power to help Kilig to force Kemsa or to influence the agency to give the Sh4 billion tender.
"Kilig came to me to assure Entec to agree to supply them with PPEs while Entec wanted an assurance that they would be paid after giving out their goods and that's how I came in," Mr Murathe said.
He admitted knowing knew Zhu Jumping even before the first case of covid-19 was reported in the country, adding that they had done business before.
"These are people that are personally known to me. I helped them in order to get business. Do you ask for benefits from a friend you have helped to get business? He posed.
Mr Gatei denied having done any business with the Deputy President, or that his company is associated with the number two in command.
"I'm not personally related to the DP and I'm not a business associate with the DP," Mr Gatei said when asked by MPs whether his company is associated with the Deputy President.
The session at one time turned stormy after Mr Murathe told the committee that he does not understand why he is before them because the special audit report on Covid-19 utilisation fund did not mention him.
“The special audit that this committee is considering did not mention me anywhere. I have never been involved in the business of Kilig, so where I’m I coming in on this matter? asked Mr Murathe.
Mr Nassir, however, warned Mr Murathe to stop the sideshows and answer the questions as asked by members.
“Do not go that direction Mr Murathe, you are here because you have been mentioned in relation to Kilig. It is only fair that we give you an opportunity to respond,” Mr Nassir said.
Embakasi East MP, Babu Owino, and Wajir East MP, Rashid Kassim were constantly engaged in shouting at each other with the lawmakers trading accusations that they were playing politics.
“We are not going to lower ourselves to the level of politics outside there. When I’m here I represent the issues of all Kenyans. This issue before us is not about tangatanga or anything else. This committee will not allow itself to be led into the shallow politics of the day,” warned Mr Nassir said.
