House teams refer CBK, Charterhouse saga to premier

The saga surrounding the failure by Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to reopen the closed Charterhouse Bank has been referred to the Prime Minister’s office.

Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim ordered that the office charged with co-ordination of government activities takes over the matter with a view to bring closure to the seven-year dispute within two weeks.

The order followed failure by Internal Security ministry to explain why CBK employed Peter George Odhiambo who had been charged by the banking fraud investigations department with forgery.

Mr Odhiambo had allegedly forged documents purporting to be an employee of Barclays Bank when applying for a visa to migrate to the United States in 1999.

Assistant minister Alfred Khangati failed to explain why the US embassy in Nairobi, which detected the forgery, did not testify in court and went on to grant amnesty to Mr Odhiambo.

He has filed a Sh2.6 billion compensation suit in the US against the Kenyan Government after the forgery charges were dismissed for poor investigations.

“This individual went ahead after the charges were dropped to steal documents at Charterhouse bank and leaked them to Kenya Revenue Authority who paid him a commission. This is a big conspiracy by a foreign government and some people here to continue perpetrating the suffering of many depositors of the bank,” said Kilome MP Harun Mwau.

Three joint teams of Parliament have been investigating why CBK failed to reopen the bank despite a House resolution that it be opened.

Finance minister Njeru Githae has since asked the committees to summon CBK governor Njuguna Ndung’u to explain why the bank was still closed saying the Constitution does not allow the central bank to be subject to directions from any person or institution.

Prof Ndung’u has failed to testify before the probe team on grounds that the matter under parliamentary investigation is in court.

Mr Maalim ruled the Prime Minister was better placed to conclusively deal with the matter given indications that investigations by the House team were likely to hit a brick wall.

CBK placed the bank under statutory management in 2006 on allegations of money laundering, tax evasion and breaches to banking regulations.
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