Military 'ignored' procurement body on Sh4bn deal

Chairman of the House Defence and Foreign Relations Committee Adan Keynan. The Committee heard the military ignored the procurement watchdog in the purchase of Sh4.5 billion worth of equipment March 17, 2011. FILE 

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, March 17 2011 at 14:06

Kenya’s military ignored the procurement watchdog in the purchase of Sh4.5 billion worth of equipment, Parliament’s Defence and Foreign Relations Committee was told Thursday.

The Director General of the Public Procurement Oversight Authority Maurice Juma said despite requests to the Department of Defence to submit its list of purchases for the authority’s scrutiny, the DoD had remained mum.

The authority, the committee was told, had sent three letters to the military bosses warning of possible flouting of procurement rules, but none has been replied to. The last correspondence was sent in January 2009, the PPOA boss said.

Mr Juma added that the DoD has been opaque in all its dealings with the authority and more so regarding the controversial purchase of armoured cars, weapons systems for Kenya Navy ships, armoured personnel carriers and the F5 fighter jets.

He noted that even in the instances where the military is allowed to operate in secrecy, for security reasons, “there is no mention” of the special vehicles and jets that were procured from companies and governments from Israel, Italy and Jordan.

Committee chairman Adan Keynan led MPs Charles Kilonzo (Yatta), Benedict Gunda (Bahari), George Nyamweya (nominated), Wilson Litole (Sigor) and Gideon Konchellah (Kilgoris) in seeking answers as to why the watchdog had not taken action despite clear indications that the military had flouted procurement laws.

The MPs said the authority ought not “complain” that the military ignored them, because they could turn to the House to ensure compliance with the law. They told the PPOA boss that if there were any inadequacies in the law, he just needed to point them out for Parliament to initiate appropriate amendments.

Mr Juma also denied the Attorney General’s report to the committee that the authority was represented when officers from Kenya’s Government went to negotiate for the purchase of 15 aircraft in Amman, Jordan.

The AG, Mr Charles Kilonzo told the PPOA boss, had told the committee that officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DoD, the State Law Office and the PPOA were involved in the deal.

On Thursday, it emerged that the PPOA was operating without an advisory board six months after the expiry of the previous board’s term and that reminders to the Treasury that there was a vacuum were met with a simple response “that it was in the process of constituting a new board.”

“If the government knows that a board’s tenure ends tomorrow, they should prepare names yesterday so that we don’t allow for a vacuum,” said Mr Litole.

Mr Juma said he had reminded the Treasury earlier. The names, he said, will be tabled in Parliament for vetting as envisaged in the new Constitution regarding appointments to crucial public offices.

The meeting came as Kenya’s Registrar of Companies informed the committee that there were no details of Union Logistics Limited, one of the companies that entered into a contract with Kenya’s military. In a baffling twist, the Registrar asked Parliament to provide reference numbers to crosscheck, because the company did not exist in the records or the database at Sheria House.

The company’s director, Mr Hasmuka Radia appeared before the committee with his lawyer Mutula Kilonzo Jr, but without incorporation documents, proving their existence. The two said they had the document, but it might be a case of “missing files” at the Registrar’s office.

The military procurement has been on the committee’s radar after whistleblowers from the DoD raised the red flag about the procurement, with many of them saying “the jets cannot fly”.

The hearing continues on Monday next week in Parliament buildings.