EACC probes Sh10bn Geothermal Development Company deals
What you need to know:
According to information handed over to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, the company is being investigated over the procurement of drilling rigs, staff mismanagement and financial improprieties.
Investigations by two parliamentary committees — the Public Investments and the Energy, Information and Communication teams — have been slow, and neither has presented a report on the company over the past two years.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating claims of corruption in awarding of tenders worth more than Sh10 billion by the Geothermal Development Company.
According to information handed over to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, the company is being investigated over the procurement of drilling rigs, staff mismanagement and financial improprieties.
The State corporation is responsible for the development of geothermal resources.
At a meeting with the committee last Thursday, the heads of the anti-corruption agency were given up to March 30 to conclude their investigations and hand over the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko.
Mr Tobiko will then decide whether to charge anyone. The DPP attended the Thursday meeting.
“They told us they are analysing the evidence and should conclude and send the file to the DPP by March 30,” said the committee chairman, Mr Samuel Chepkong’a, after the closed-door meeting.
The commission is reported to be investigating claims that a Sh4 billion contract for top-holing, where a smaller rig than normal is used to drill the top of a well, was awarded after single-sourcing.
The Justice and Legal Affairs committee has been concerned that despite the concerns about corruption and the well-known cases the EACC says it is investigating, there has been little progress.
Investigations into the company by two parliamentary committees — the Public Investments and the Energy, Information and Communication teams, have also been slow, and neither has presented a report on the company over the past two years.
Documents presented to the committee also indicate concerns about the procurement of services to move the drilling rigs.
