KenGen Managing Director Eddy Njoroge during a press conference on September 10, 2009 at the company headquarters in Nairobi. He denied hat he was involved in corrupt dealings currently under investigations by KACC. /Fredrick Onyango
KenGen managing director Eddy Njoroge on Thursday defended himself from accusations that he is among high profile individuals being investigated by Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission for fraudulent dealings.
Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo tabled a report in parliament on Wednesday which named Mr Njoroge among six cabinet ministers, nine chief executives of State owned firms, and seven MPs whose cases have either been finalised or are waiting to be taken to court.
But the KenGen MD said that Kacc was investigating KenGen and not him, adding that the anti-graft body had failed to respond to his queries regarding the investigation.
“KACC may be investigating an issue to do with KenGen, but that doesn’t mean they are investigating Eddy Njoroge,” he said at a press conference.
“As the CEO, I am accountable for everything that happens at KenGen, but this does not mean that I am necessarily responsible for everything that may happen.”
The power supplier is being investigated for the extension of a contract for drilling 15 wells at Olkaria geothermal plant. The accusations came barely three days after the country’s electricity provider opened for sale a Sh15 billion infrastructure bond to be sold to the public in the next three weeks.
Proceeds from the bond will help the power firm invest heavily in expanding its mix of geothermal, thermal, wind, and hydro projects in the next five years to raise its total power output by 615 megawatts.
This is intended to help the government starve off a power crisis and grow the power generator’s earnings, meaning success of the bond is critical.
Hard pressed As a result, news linking the firm or its CEO to graft does not bode well for transaction advisers who are keen on raising the Sh15 billion and an additional Sh10 billion through a green shoe (over-allotment provision) agreed on with the capital markets regulator.
Analyst reckon that such bad press can put off high net investors who are normally keen on high governance standards.
The accusation came after the government was hard pressed by legislators to give details on Kacc investigations of prominent personalities amid the storm arising from the re-appointment of Kacc director Justice Aaron Ringera and two assistants, Ms Fatuma Sichale and Mr Smokin Wanjala.
MPs have been outraged by the reappointments, saying due process was not followed. The accusations of corruption as tabled in Parliament involve a contract that involved the drilling of 15 wells at Olkaria, where Kacc wrote a letter to KenGen on last November 24 about the case.
A month letter KenGen got a reply, according to Mr Njoroge, and after a meeting with a Kacc official nothing more was heard from the anti-graft body.
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