UK to buy ambulances with ‘Chickengate’ funds

Kenya plans to spend the more than Sh577 million recovered from former Kenya Power managing director Samuel Gichuru’s secret Jersey Island account and UK printing firm Smith & Ouzman on social sector projects jointly agreed with foreign authorities, Parliament was told on Wednesday.

Halakhe Waqo, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) chief executive officer, said the Sh52 million recovered from Smith & Ouzman following the printing firm’s conviction for bribing Kenyan electoral and examination officials will be used to buy ambulances.

“On the Sh52 million recovered from Britain, we have agreed that the money will go to the health sector. The British High Commission and the Treasury have agreed that the money will go towards the purchase of ambulances to be commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta,” Mr Waqo told Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.

The position is in line with the UK government’s earlier announcement that it would repatriate the recovered funds through its Department for International Development (DfID) for investment in social sectors of the Kenya’s economy.

Mr Waqo told MPs that the UK government’s policy does not allow public funds recovered from proceeds of crime to return to the exchequer.

“Such funds must be committed to a social or development project,” Mr Waqo said adding that the UK authorities had initially identified on their own potential projects that would be financed but those were rejected.

“We had to sit with them and the Treasury and agreed that it (project) should be something of our choice as we progress,” Mr Waqo said.

The EACC boss said countries repatriating money have an administrative cost that has to be deducted from the total amounts recovered before the money is sent back to Kenya.

Britain’s Serious Crimes Office successfully prosecuted and had top managers of the security printing firm convicted for bribing Kenya’s Interim Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IIEC) and  Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and recovered the Sh52 million that the Kenyan public lost in inflated printing contracts.

READ: Kenya to get back Sh51 million seized from ‘Chickengate’ firm

The EACC has since summoned top IEBC officials, including chairman Issack Hassan for questioning over the scandal.

Mr Waqo, who had appeared before the Justice Committee to defend the Sh775 million the EACC got from the mini-budget, told MPs that the Jersey Island government had also agreed to hand over the Sh525 million it recovered from Mr Gichuru and former Finance minister Chris Okemo.

Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo are wanted in Jersey for money laundering offences committed through a company associated with Mr Gichuru’s Windward Trading Limited.

The company surrendered the money after it admitted to four counts of money laundering before the Royal Court of Jersey.

“On the Jersey matter, we are getting back the Sh525 million. We have communication to that effect. We will identify the projects to be funded by this money – which is not going back to the Consolidated Fund,” Mr Waqo told the committee chaired by Priscilla Nyokabi (Nyeri Women Representative).

Mr Waqo also revealed that the Swiss government had agreed to hand over some of the funds from the yet to be verified assets acquired through the Anglo-Leasing scandal.

“We have located the Anglo-Leasing money stashed away in Swiss banks. We are engaging the Swiss government through a request by the Attorney General to have the money repatriated and assets frozen,” he said, adding that the Swiss government had indicated it was ready to repatriate the money and other assets. 

In the Triton scandal involving businessman Yagnes Devani, Mr Waqo told the committee that the case had been concluded in the UK.

“We were able to send two of our officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office to bring Mr Devani back home. But there was a technicality arising from the fact that he had entered a suit seeking asylum and whose determination we are awaiting.” Mr Waqo defended the Sh157 million it intends to spend in the next three months for joint operations between Kenya and its international partners.

“What we realised is that many investigations take us beyond local confines. We send more than five officers monthly abroad to conduct investigations, making it imperative that this money be availed,” Mr Waqo said.

Parliament also heard that the EACC has enlisted international support on Anglo-Leasing and needs Sh164 million to hire legal services for both local and international investigations.

Out of the money, Sh40 million will go towards legal services for asset recovery, Sh100 million for international legal support and Sh24 million for high profile constitutional petitions and judicial reviews.

“We retained three years ago the services of a Swiss firm in Geneva that represents the EACC in Anglo-Leasing matters. We have been paying their fees on quarterly basis. We have enlisted more of these firms,” Mr Waqo said.

Kenya has signed a number of mutual legal assistance agreements with various countries, Mr Waqo said even as he defended the EACC’s Sh30 million budget for training of investigators in Britain and Germany.

“What the institutions in UK and Germany have offered is that they are willing to take our officers for six months training on investigation, preparation of files, and securing successful  conviction,” Mr Waqo said.

The EACC also plans to spend Sh100 million to construct its own forensic laboratory complete with forensic tool kits, log examiners, document examination equipment, interview room equipment, covert surveillance gadgets and cameras among others.