PAUL WAWERU | NATION Makadara MP Gidion Mbuvi alias Sonko (centre) leaves a Nairobi court on August 22, 2011 after testifying in a case against a former chairman of Makadara CDF chairman Vincent Shimoli (left in stripped shirt).
By RICHARD MUNGUTI rmunguti@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, August 22 2011 at 22:00
Posted Monday, August 22 2011 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
- The accused are said to have attempted to bribe legislator for approval of fake projects
An MP on Monday told the anti-corruption court that more than Sh5 million was withdrawn from the Constituency Development Fund without his knowledge.
Makadara’s Gidion Mbuvi (alias Sonko) said those who withdrew the money wrote down his cellphone number in the bank documents with a sinister motive.
“I reported the matter immediately to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) when I learnt of the withdrawal,” said Mr Mbuvi.
The legislator said investigations were ongoing.
“I was not aware of the hefty withdrawal. When I learnt of the transaction I reported it to KACC,” Mr Mbuvi responded when asked by defence lawyer Nelvile Amolo about the transaction.
“Can you read the telephone contact indicated in the documents?” Mr Amolo asked the MP.
“The cellphone number indicated is my Safaricom line. I do not know who put it there,” Mr Mbuvi responded.
The politician said he appointed new CDF committee members after his election as MP for Makadara in October, last year.
He picked Ms Rose Tata Muya as committee chairperson but retained Mr Michael Maina and Mr Joseph Njue as secretary and treasurer, respectively.
The MP, who was testifying in a case filed against former Makadara CDF committee chairman Vincent Shimoli and Mr Maina before principal magistrate Lucy Nyambura, said his new team had assumed office when Sh5,017,241.40 was withdrawn from the bank.
Mr Shimoli, according to the MP, was not a signatory when the money was withdrawn.
Mr Shimoli and Mr Maina have denied attempting to bribe the MP with Sh480,000 to authorise payments for non-existent projects.
Mr Mbuvi testified that Mr Shimoli had presented some requests for payment of projects.
He said the former chairman of the CDF kitty had presented conflicting figures of Sh4 million and Sh5 million.
The MP said he asked him to produce documents to support the payments in vain.
“The accused asked me to authorise the payments as the patron. I declined. He made some overtures,” Mr Mbuvi told the magistrate.
He said Mr Shimoli gave the list of the projects for which he was seeking approval for payment to the secretary.
“There were no invoices accompanying the payment request,” the MP testified, adding that when he reported the matter to the anti-corruption commission, he was given a recorder to tape the discussion between him and the suspects.
He identified the voices of the suspects from the recorded conversations and also identified them personally in court.
The hearing resumes on August 29.
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