Just days after an affidavit put a Supreme Court Judge under a spotlight, another affidavit has surfaced casting former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru in the role of a criminal mastermind.
One Josephine Kabura who is facing charges for the theft of Sh791 from the National Youth Service, has sworn under oath that Waiguru – contrary to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s assertions – was not blameless in the whole affair but was in fact the brains behind the scheme.
Kabura who says her companies – Form Home Builders, Roof and All Trading and Reinforced Concrete Technologies – received the Sh791 million as payment for the supply of road construction material for the Kibera and Mukuru slums, says Waiguru engaged her and even oversaw the registration of her companies.
She claims to have met Waiguru when she worked at the Ministry of Finance, specifically in the IFMIS directorate. It was then, she says, that she started carrying out “small jobs” for Waiguru which eventually culminated in her appointment the “sole merchant assigned to deliver all (NYS) road materials.”
It was in this role that Kabura claims to have met Adan Harakhe whom she says expedited payments to her companies in his role as (Authority to Incur Expenditure) AIE holder.
“Harakhe was appointed AIE holder in February 2015, though he had started acting as AIE much earlier.”
Kabura claims to have paid an associate of Harakhe’s Sh20 million and consultant Mutahi Ngunyi who assisted her secure the NYS tenders, Sh1.5 million.
All of which, she says, were payments sanctioned by Waiguru.
The gravy train got derailed, she says, when Harakhe – sans Waiguru’s authorisation – sought a further Sh3.5 billion from the Treasury, “to enable him issue additional LPOs for Sh2 billion for construction materials.”
“Harakhe talked of plans to issue new road contracts but pointed out that CS Waiguru and Hassan Noor had issued out food and small equipment under restricted tendering and high prices alongside authorising expensive consultancies, a situation that led to money running out,” Kabura states in her affidavit.
In fact, she states, Harakhe had already began processing Sh695 million when his request for more funds sounded alarms at the Treasury.
It was in an attempt to deflect suspicion, Kabura claims, that Waiguru took on the role of whistleblower by claiming that Harakhe’s password had been stolen to authorise the payments to unscrupulous cartels but that the payments had been stopped.
“Ngunyi advised madame Waiguru to do a public statement to cool down public anger. He also advised her to do a backdated letter on the purportedly stolen password inviting the CID to intervene. This letter was dated June 5, 2015,” Kabura’s affidavit states.
Inviting the CID to “intervene” was done ostensibly to put the matter under the purview of the Head of the Banking Fraud Unit Joseph Mugwanja, Kabura alleges.
“Waiguru expressed her desire to assist Mugwanja become the Director of CID in future as show of gratitude.”
Kabura also claims to have handed over to him Sh80 million on Waiguru’s instructions.
Former NYS Director Nelson Githinji and former Planning PS Peter Mangiti, Kabura claims were thrown under the bus to strengthen Waiguru’s position as clueless whistleblower.
“Waiguru informed me that she had pushed for charging of many people including the PS and DG so that she would not be implicated anywhere.”
Kabura claims Waiguru assured her that although she would also be among those charged, it would only be on “funny” counts.
“According to Waiguru this would reduce pressure for her to step aside and funny charges would technically water down charges and also make it easy for her to assist me later when there was little limelight on the case.”
But facing the additional charge of money laundering and having seen the innocent persecuted to shield the guilty, Kabura claims, has caused her a change of heart.
And although Kabura denies any wrongdoing, her claims that she used a “secret phone” to communicate with Waiguru only between the hours of 7am and 9am and 7pm and 9pm, paints a different picture.
She also claims to have delivered Waiguru’s, “part” to her sister Loise Nyamu Mbarire in bags of cash at the basement parking of Family Bank’s KTDA branch.
“Loise would come in different vehicles, park in the basement and wait for me to withdraw the money and take it down to her, one bag at a time.”
The withdrawals, she claims, made from accounts whose opening Waiguru facilitated.
Waiguru has denied all these allegations.
