KPA maintains tendering of alleged Sh2.7bn loot was above board

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Tuesday maintained that the alleged Sh2.7billion scan was above board barely hours after it emerged that the Parastatal failed to follow due process in tendering processes.

“KPA Procurement procedures are above board,” reads in part a statement by the company.

This came after a special assignment team had been appointed to investigate an alleged Sh2.7billion fraud at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) which finally recommended the charging and possible prosecution of top managers — with its Managing Director Daniel Manduku also implicated.

Others are General Manager for Operations William Rutto, senior works officer Anthony Muhanji and principal civil engineer Bernard Nyobange. Another on the radar of detectives is Mr Juma Chigulu, a works officer.

The Kenya Ports Authority management maintained that the procurement tenders currently under scrutiny are by all means above aboard.

This comes in the wake of adverse media reports implicating top officials for alleged irregular expenditures on infrastructural projects.

The said projects including the Makongeni Yard, Manufacture of Concrete Barriers and Kisumu Port revitalization all followed the procurement laws.

Investigations found that Sh3 billion set aside and approved for the purchase of a piece of land for the Inland Container Deport in Nairobi (ICDN), in order to ease congestion, was diverted to finance the concreting of the Makongeni yard in Nairobi at a cost of Sh500 million, while Sh2 billion was used for dredging the Mombasa port. Only Sh500 million was retained for the original purpose.

“In regard to concreting of the Makongeni yard, it is important to note that the Kenya Ports Authority legally acquired the parcel of land from Kenya Railways Corporation. The facility was gazetted as a port in line with the laid down practice and policy after KPA acquired the requisite board approvals from both the Kenya Railways Corporation and Kenya Ports Authority,” continued the statement.

On the procurement of concrete barriers, KPA said that the procurement procedures were adhered to and were initiated by relevant consumer departments in accordance to the laid down procedures.

“Subsequently, all the companies that won the tenders for the projects were qualified and picked through an open tender system,” it said.