MediaEvolves
According to Kimani Ichung’wah, the Majority Leader of the National Assembly, some of the Sh6.09 billion paid by the government to acquire a stake in Telkom Kenya was divided among influential individuals.
The MP from Kikuyu stated that the Kenya Kwanza administration has documents proving that the money was transferred to offshore accounts just two days after the August 9th election.
Despite the government’s payment to purchase a 60% stake in Telkom, there is still confusion over who legally owns the company, according to Ichung’wah.
“The money was wired to accounts in Malaysia, then back to individual accounts in Kenya then again to Cayman islands,” Ichung’wah said on Tuesday during a parliamentary session.
Ichung’wah claimed during a speech in support of the first supplementary budget for the 2022-23 financial year that the accounts receiving the funds had connections to influential individuals from the previous administration.
“When Kenyans were waiting for election results, other people were smiling as their accounts locally and abroad received billions of shillings,” he said.
The Treasury allegedly ignored the Controller of Budget’s objections and transferred Sh6.09 billion to a UK-based private equity fund to acquire a 60% stake in Telkom Kenya.
Margaret Nyakang’o, the Controller of Budget, informed MPs that she declined to authorize the withdrawal of the funds to buy out Helios Investment Partners in Telkom Kenya, which made the company entirely state-owned.
On August 5, 2022, the Treasury withdrew the Sh6.09 billion and paid it to Jamhuri Holdings Ltd, a Mauritius-based subsidiary of Helios, without receiving parliamentary approval for the transaction.
The deal was concluded during the final days of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
In addition to the Telkom Kenya agreement, the Treasury reportedly spent an additional Sh16 billion without receiving Parliament’s approval in the weeks before President Ruto’s inauguration.
The Treasury disbursed Sh810 million to State House, Sh2.2 billion to construct the military research hospital, and Sh4.5 billion for the terminated maize flour subsidy program.
An additional Sh9.45 billion was set aside for road construction.
