Allegations of fraudulent payments to suppliers and contractors at City Hall have now escalated after the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was asked to intensify investigations and take action against nine companies allegedly involved in fictitious tenders. A letter dated September 19, 2023, signed by Maureen Nasimiyu, who is the managing partner for Nasimiyu and Company Advocates, and addressed to Mr. David K. Birech, acting on behalf of Janet Muthoni Ouko demanded an inquiry into File No. 66/2023 (Suspected Fraud in Nairobi County Payments)
The former County Executive Member for Education at the Nairobi City County Government, Janet Ouko is on a mission to fight corruption cases at her former workstation. She is the director of the Tunza Mtoto Coalition in Kenya. Janet Ouko served the county under Governor Mike Sonko and Ann Kananu.
She has on many occasions criticised Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration over alleged corrupt practices. She even took Governor Sakaja to court over the school feeding program dubbed ‘Dishi na County’, terming it illegal as education is a national government function. However, High Court Judge Justice Mugure Thande declined to issue an order stopping the school feeding program, saying it would affect so many children who are already benefiting from the initiative.
Allegations of fraudulent payments to suppliers and contractors at City Hall have now escalated after the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was asked to intensify investigations and take action against nine companies allegedly involved in fictitious tenders. A letter dated September 19, 2023, signed by Maureen Nasimiyu, who is the managing partner for Nasimiyu and Company Advocates, and addressed to Mr. David K. Birech, acting on behalf of Janet Muthoni Ouko demanded an inquiry into File No. 66/2023 (Suspected Fraud in Nairobi County Payments).
The file contains details of payments made to nine companies, namely Larsen Investment Company, Bushara General Supplies Ltd, Tweem Ltd, Future Link Limited, and Cloud Mobile Technologies Ltd. Others are AR Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Istanbul Investment Ltd., Ramecon Engineering Ltd., and Brigit West Ltd.
The letter reads in part “The above subject matter and your letter dated July 21, 2023, addressed to the County Secretary, Nairobi City County Government refer.” Janet Ouko had advised the lawyers to demand from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) an inquiry on the status of the above-mentioned case.
Specifically, she had requested to be appraised on the status of the investigations and, in particular, whether the county secretary has complied with your letter dated July 21, 2023. Further, she wanted to know if the directors of the above-listed companies and the concerned county officials and section heads had been summoned to record statements regarding the above allegations.
Further, she also wanted an update on whether the DCI officials have been able to ascertain how the above-listed companies were awarded the said tenders and whether it was through competitive bidding, a request for quotation, or single sourcing. The letter also demands clarification on whether the office of the DCI has been able to ascertain what goods and/or services these companies provided to Nairobi City County.
Janet Ouko wants to know precisely when the goods and/or services were supplied and whether the payments were fraudulently made to the above companies. The letter further reveals that, on the advice of Janet Ouko, they wrote to the registrar of companies at Sheria House requesting the particulars concerning the said nine companies.
Through an email dated August 4, 2023, the company registrar confirmed that there are no records at the registry about three of the nine companies, namely Bushara General Supplies Ltd., Istanbul Investment Ltd., and Brigit West Ltd.
The letter reads in part, “Our client’s request for the above information is pursuant to Article 35 of the Constitution of Kenya and Section 4 of the Access to Information Act.” It is further based on the understanding that without access to information, the achievement of high values of democracy, rule of law, and social justice set out in the preamble to the constitution and Article 10 cannot be achieved unless the citizens have access to information.
