Kajiado executives dial their way into trouble with Sh90,000 phones

On two occasions this week, mobile phones graced national news headlines. The first instance was on Monday during the launch of M-Akiba, the country’s maiden exclusive sale of bonds worth Sh5 billion on mobile phones.

A day later, mobile phones were back in the news but for all the wrong reasons, following revelations that Kajiado County had bought its executives handsets worth up to Sh90,000 each, in breach of the law.

The law caps purchase of phones for public officials at Sh30,000, in line with a circular issued by the Office of the President. However, Kajiado officials in the fiscal year 2013/14 procured two batches of Samsung Galaxy Note III at Sh90,000 and Sh80,000.

Auditor-General Edward Ouko has questioned the purchase of the 24 phones at Sh2,490,000, terming it suspect. He documents that 17 phones were bought at Sh90,000 and another batch of seven units at Sh80,000.

“The prices came down by Sh10,000 mainly due to the fact that electronic items prices rapidly fluctuated downwards after they had been released to the market. Quotations for the two sets were issued in different times thereby resulting in the price deferential,” Kajiado Governor David Nkedianye told the Senate’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday amid growing public outrage over reckless public expenditure in some of the counties.

Besides the hefty Sh2.5 million spent on phones, the county managers are at pains to explain the procurement of a Sh2,250 per plate lunch for guests of the county Speaker. The costly meals were bought for 20 visitors who were entertained by the official last year.

These contentious expenses have thrust Dr Nkedianye into the spotlight, even culminating in a grilling session by PAC.

The Senate has since ordered for fresh investigations into allegations of wastage of funds by Kajiado Members of County Assemblies (MCAs), especially on travel and training costs after it emerged that about Sh27.9 million could not be accounted for.

Of this, Sh8 million was paid to four firms as training fees whereas Sh19.9 million was the cost of foreign travel allowances during the training abroad, according to a report by the Auditor-General.

Three MCAs are accused of pocketing double allowances after they were listed as having attended two functions that were running concurrently in two different countries.

County Clerk Daniel Konyango and Speaker Johnson Osoi admitted that each of the MCAs received Sh30,000 as allowances for a local event and another Sh170,340 for a forum that was held in Addis Ababa as from June 15-20, 2014.

The woes facing Kajiado come in the wake of a scandal in Bungoma County where officials bought wheelbarrows worth a whopping Sh109,320 each – which is 32 times the average price of a regular unit as set by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) that benchmarks pricing for government procurement.

Dr Nkedianye’s battles will, however, not just end after tackling the graft claims. The governor faces the headache of a brewing conflict among sections of residents in the county’s main town of Kitengela.

Intermittent violent clashes have rocked the metropolis, raising panic among residents and the business community. Although the county officials have maintained that the clashes were as a result of disagreement between traders over market stalls and space, some residents warned that the clashes could be signs of long-running feuds over land.

Congestion in Nairobi has seen thousands of people move out to areas such as Kitengela, Athi River and Thika in search of land and housing. Land sale transactions remain banned in the county despite pressure by private developers and realtors to have the embargo lifted to enable buyers obtain title deeds for their properties.

“We have banned the sale of land in this county because we are looking at the young generation so that it can in future have a place to call home. I am urging the youth to be bright enough and protect the land,” Dr Nkedianye said early last month.

A trained teacher, the governor has for most of his career served as a community worker. Prior to his election as governor, Dr Nkedianye served a deputy director of the University of Nairobi’s Centre for Sustainable Dryland Ecosystems and Societies, a USAid-funded project based at the Kabete Campus. He doubled up as a part-time lecturer on pastoral systems and human ecology at the same university.

He also worked as a consultant with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on a study on pastoral livelihood diversification, climate change mitigation and mobility between October 2010 and January 2011.

Between 1990 and 1996, Dr Nkedianye worked as a deputy headmaster at Mashuuru Secondary School in Kajiado.

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