Kidero may pay Sh577m tied to Mumias Sugar exports

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero risks paying Sh577 million lost in an export scheme should Parliament approve recommendations in a report on the crisis facing the sugar sector.

Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali has sponsored amendments that seek to compel Mr Kidero to bear responsibility for taxes allegedly lost during his tenure as Mumias Sugar Company (MSC) managing director.

Mr Washiali said in his additional recommendations that alleged MSC exports were a ploy to defraud the government of realisable value added tax (VAT).

“Neither the management nor the board of the company could confirm that the sugar actually left the country,” Mr Washiali said in amendments listed in the House Order Paper. The National Assembly slotted debate on the report on the crisis facing the sugar industry in Kenya which was tabled by the Agriculture committee on March, 12, 2015.

The report was re-tabled on Wednesday for processing during the current session after a number of western Kenya MPs complained of plans to kill it. Mr Washiali said although Mr Kidero submitted documents showing that the consignment left the country, the current management was at pains to prove that indeed the sugar left the country.

READ: How Mumias Sugar bosses brought firm to its knees

“Documents provided by the management in an attempt to prove that the sugar was indeed exported were not verifiable,” Mr Washiali said.

He said the board of directors, through its chairman Dan Ameyo, submitted that the board would carry out a forensic audit on the exports, like it had done on the company’s sugar imports, and file its findings within six months.

“In view of the fact that there is little evidence that Mumias Sugar Company did make any sugar exports to the regional market between 2006 and 2009, the House recommends that the government recovers from the them managing director Evans Kidero the lost VAT revenue amounting to Sh577 million which it would have realised had the company made the exports,” Mr Washiali recommended.

He also wants Dr Kidero to “take full responsibility and be barred from holding public office since the fraudulent transactions took place during his tenure as the chief executive officer.”