The Auditor-General’s finding that State broadcaster -- the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) -- paid lawyers a mind-boggling Sh1.3 billion in an arbitration suit worth Sh200 billion is a classic case of impunity. KBC made the payments in contracts that were signed in breach of the procurement laws and without the requisite competitive bidding.
For starters, this payment arose from a case filed by Dubai-based businessman, Ajay Sethi, who had sued the corporation for Sh200 billion over the failure to award him a TV channel as well as the collapse of a digital migration partnership.
On the face of it, it is tempting to give the broadcaster the benefit of the doubt considering the massive suit amount that the broadcaster would not have been able to honour anyway if awarded. But the magnitude of the case should have taught KBC a lesson or two in the art of following the right channels during the pursuit of justice. Indeed, KBC is funded by the taxpayers and is at all times expected to remain in the narrow corridor of law and ethics while spending public money.
This is because for a cash-strapped agency that is struggling to pay salaries to make such massive payments in disregard of a considerably new law stipulating how state agencies should buy goods and services amounts to gross impunity.
KBC’s action amounts to abuse of office and the top brass must be made to account for this breach while getting ready to pay the heavy price for going against the law.
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