Recently, national coward Samuel Kivuitu complained that Local Government Minister and premier mungiki financier Mr Uhuru Kenyatta had irregularly nominated 100 kanjoras contrary to the list that was forwarded by the disgraced ECK. Today, it emerged that the minister's PA, another bandit called Njoroge Kariuki was arrested by the feckless Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority, KACA while receiving a fifth of the one million he should have been paid to facilitate the payee's nomination to the Nairobi City Council. Questions are, by paying a million bob, how much does a kanjora expect to earn? The most important question is, how clean is Uhuru in this a-million-for-nomination-scandal?
Kariuki was arrested on Tuesday at his Jogoo House offices by officers from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) after he allegedly received Sh200, 000 from a person who was seeking to be nominated as a councillor at the Nairobi City Council.
According to the police, the money was part of Sh1 million the suspect had demanded from Ms Halima Saloo, who was seeking the nomination.
According to a statement from KACC, Kariuki was arraigned in court at 3pm facing charges of soliciting and receiving a bribe, contrary to Section 39 (a) as read with Section 48 (1) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act 20.
But speaking at his offices yesterday, Uhuru denied that Kariuki was not his PA but was only involved in the civic elections exercise.
However, the minister called on the investigating authorities to get to the bottom of the matter and ensure that justice was done.
Kariuki was yesterday charged before Nairobi Principal Magistrate, Lilian Mutende, who released him on a Sh250, 000 bond and a surety of the same amount. “I cannot defend him. This should serve as an example to other officers who are tempted to engage in corruption in the ministry where I am the head. They will not survive,” said Uhuru.
This came after a storm was raised in the run up to mayoral elections where some names of nominated councillors were struck off the list published by the minister.
Among the cases was that of Adopt-A-Light former managing director, Esther Passaris, over conflict of interest as she had pending cases she has sued the council.
The move resulted in a protracted war of words between Passaris and former Nairobi mayor and Makadara MP Dick Wathika, whom she accused of cancelling most of her contracts entered into with the council.
But in her defence to the minister’s assertions, Passaris said she was a different entity from her company, and hence, the minister should never have used it as a reason to reject her nomination.
Meanwhile, a crucial document in the Sh64 million fraud charge leveled against a director of East African Safari Express is missing from the registrar’s office, a court heard yesterday.
The prosecutor, Elias Njeru, told Senior Principal Magistrate Rose Ougo the document he wanted to use in a case against Antony Kegode was missing from the registrar’s file.
Kegode is charged with obtaining Sh64,188,487 by pretending that an aircraft he offered as security belonged to his company, East African Safari Air Express Ltd, based at Wilson Airport. The case will be heard on April l6, l7 and l8.
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