Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has tabled a petition seeking to unearth an alleged Ksh 777 billion overpayment of funds through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) before parliament.
Omtatah on Tuesday April 30, 2024, tabled the petition which is challenging alleged corruption of funds through the SGR Project.
The petition by Bernard Muchere, a fraud risk management consultant, wanted the lawmakers to establish the authenticity of the total amount spent to develop the SGR project.
“The petitioner prays that the Senate intervenes in this matter with a view to undertake an inquiry into the inconsistency in financing the SGR project between the National Treasury, State Department of Transport and Kenya Railways Corporation,” reads part of the petition.
The petition tabled by Omtatah questions and tries to establish why Ksh 777 billion was overpaid to China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
Chinese Company put on spot
According to the petition, it is alleged that the project which was schemed by CRBC benefitted the Chinese at the expense of Kenyan taxpayers.
CRBC was the company contracted as the suppliers of facilities and rolling stocks during the construction of the railway by the State department for Transport.
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Muchere claims that the contract sum that was initially set at Ksh 407 billion was aggregated to an excessive amount of Ksh1.18 trillion.
“The amount spent to develop SGR aggregated to Sh1.18 trillion notwithstanding that the contract sum was Sh407 billion indicating that China Roads and Bridges and the suppliers of facilities and rolling stocks were overpaid by Ksh777billion,” reads part of the petition.
Furthermore, the petition highlights that there is no evidence establishing if Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) as the procurement entity invited SGR tenders.
The Petitioner alleges that the project did not meet a criterion for a public project, neither did the project qualify as a public contractual public debt.
“That, KRC made the first cash payment of Ksh. 6,627,645,067.00 directly to China Road and Bridges Corporation in the financial year ending 30th June 2014 notwithstanding work on the SGR project commenced in December 2014.
Since the payments were made from GOK grants (Exchequer issues), it raises a red flag as to whether this was a scheme to siphon out public money from the consolidated fund,” the petition reads.
On the other hand, the State department of Transport is also on the spot after being highlighted as having allocated funds for the project years after its completion.
Overpayment of SGR Funds
According to the petition, the department allocated a total amount of Ksh 97.3 billion for the construction of the Mombasa – Nairobi line, seven years after the completion of the project.
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Also, Muchere in his petition claims that the conceptualization of the project was not captured in the vision 2030, first medium-term plan 2008-2012 and KRC Strategic Plan.
He further wants the Senators to establish the authenticity of Ksh63.9billion expenditure for the development of Nairobi-Naivasha SGR by the National Treasury.
“That, notwithstanding that the development of Nairobi to Naivasha SGR was completed and commissioned in December 2019, Ksh. 27,158,000,000.00 and Ksh. 36,830,000,000.00 aggregating to Ksh. 63,988,000,000.00 was captured in 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 financial years respectively, for the development of Nairobi to Naivasha SGR,” states Muchere.
According to him, administrative budgetary allocation by the State Department of Transport for the development of Mombasa-Nairobi-Naivasha line was in 2019/2020 financial year.
However, he highlights that the development of Nairobi-Naivasha SGR remerged under National Treasury in 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 financial years.
In addition, the petition claims that it disappeared in the 2023/2024 development budget estimates raising a red flag as to whether the expenditure of Ksh 63.9 B for the development of Nairobi to Naivasha SGR was authentic.
