Testifying before Milimani Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa, Kairu, who was the procurement officer in Murang’a County at the time, stated that the county government, under Wa Iria’s leadership, awarded the media advertising tender to Top Image Media Consultancy Limited
The Procurement Officer at the National Youth Service, James Kamau Kairu, has defended the procurement process for media buying services during former Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria’s tenure, insisting that all legal and regulatory procedures were followed when awarding the tender for the financial years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.
Testifying before Milimani Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa, Kairu, who was the procurement officer in Murang’a County at the time, stated that the county government, under Wa Iria’s leadership, awarded the media advertising tender to Top Image Media Consultancy Limited.
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The Anti-Corruption Court was told how a Ksh 543 million tender for media and publicity services was allegedly awarded to a company linked to former Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria’s wife. The company’s directors include the former governor’s wife, Jane Waigwe Kimani, alongside an alleged associate, Jane Mbuthi.
According to the prosecution, Wa Iria, his wife, and Mbuthi conspired to defraud the Murang’a County Government of millions of shillings by falsely claiming to provide media services through Top Image Media Consultancy Limited over a two-year period.
Kairu, who now serves as Director in charge of Supply Chain Management at the National Youth Service (NYS), presented in court a contract agreement signed between the County Government of Murang’a and Top Image Media Consultancy Limited on 21 October 2014.
He also produced an evaluation report detailing how a 17-member county government tender committee approved the multi-million-shilling contract for Top Image at a meeting held on 9 September 2014. The court heard that the county government exclusively awarded media buying tenders worth Ksh 542,610,615.15 to Top Image Media Consultancy Limited across the financial years 2013/2014 to 2016/2017.
“Your Honour, here are the minutes of the tender committee meeting held on 16 September 2014 in the old committee room, starting at 11 a.m. In these minutes, an evaluation report is attached for the annual tenders of 2014-2015, which were reviewed on 16 June 2014. I was the secretary of the tender committee that evaluated all firms bidding for the advertising tender,” said Kairu.
The court further heard that after bidders were invited via an advertisement in a local newspaper on Monday, 19 May 2014, the tender committee approved the issuance of a valid contract to Top Image Media Consultancy Limited.
However, Kairu defended the procurement process for media buying services during Wa Iria’s tenure, insisting that all legal and regulatory procedures were adhered to when awarding the tender for the financial years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. He further asserted that the county government had budgeted for media advertising expenditure through both the annual budget and a supplementary budget for the respective years.
“I confirm that budgets were allocated for the media buying services,” he told the court.
The prosecution, however, alleges irregular procurement practices and misappropriation of public funds in the process.
Kairu’s testimony seeks to counter these allegations by demonstrating that the funds were utilised for their intended purpose and that the procurement process followed due process.
The prosecution, however, stated that it would present a total of 159 payment vouchers as evidence, showing how millions of shillings were paid to Top Image Media Consultancy Limited.
Kairu was stood down until 12 February 2025, when he is expected to take the court through each payment voucher and detail the amounts paid to the firm by the county government.
The former county boss is charged alongside his wife, Waigwe, former County Secretary Patrick Kagumu Mukuda, Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia (Director of Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd), David Maina Kiama (Director of Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd), David Maina Njeri (Director of Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd), and Peter Muturi Karanja, a personal assistant to Wa Iria.
