Cheque book leaves used for Ruto Sh18 million jet trip go missing

Deputy President William Ruto inspects a guard of honour mounted by the Gabon armed forces during a recent trip. [PHOTO: DPPS]

By Vitalis Kimutai

Nairobi, Kenya: Leaves from a chequebook used to hire a private jet for Deputy President William Ruto’s African tour in May are missing.

Making the stunning announcement Tuesday, theAuditor General also revealed that President Uhuru Kenyatta gave the executive order authorising the hiring of the jet, whose lease Ruto’s office had put at Sh18.5 million.

Mr Dennis Kariuki, a director at the Auditor General’s office told a hearing of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that it was impossible to establish the exact cost of hiring the jet because of the missing cheque leaves.

Also missing are two local service orders (LSOs) used to hire the aircraft from Vistajet Company.

Even more intriguing was that the payments happened when the National Treasury’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), an electronic payment system, was down, making it harder to verify how much was actually paid for the lease.

“The only cheque leaf available is that showing Vistajet was paid Sh18.5 million for the trip, including taxes and other fees,” said Kariuki.

He explained it was impossible to verify whether additional money was paid out for lack of supporting documentation.

Ruto and his delegation flew in the jet to West Africa and Central Africa countries.

Tuesday, the PAC was told President Kenyatta invoked the Executive Order in hiring of the plane that took Ruto and his team on a tour of Nigeria, Congo, Gabon and Ghana in May this year.

The missing cheque leaves are numbers 0855003 and 0855005, Kariuki told the PAC chaired by Budalangi MP, Ababu Namwamba.

The committee is investigating circumstances under which the plane was hired, and how much was paid by the Government.

The probe was ordered after reports that the Government paid Sh100 million for the trip.

Ruto’s office provided documents to prove that only Sh18.5 million had been paid to the company, which quoted the lowest figure.

Kesses MP James Bett questioned why two months later the Auditor General’s office had not completed the audit report.

Leader of Majority Aden Duale had tabled documents in Parliament indicating how much the Government had paid for the trip, to downplay suggestions Sh100 million was incurred.

Committee

MPs Kareke Mbiuki, Julius Melly and Jackson Rop said officers from the Deputy President’s office should appear before the committee to shed more light on the matter.

They added that the Registrar of Companies, Directors of Vistajet, Lady Lori Kenya Limited and ABM Aviation, which had reportedly been invited to give quotation for the trip, should also be summoned to appear before the PAC next week.

When reports of the expensive trip emerged, the Government said the Sh18.5 million paid out was a bargain since taking commercial flights to those countries would have consumed more money and time.

At the time, Government officials argued there were no scheduled commercial flights connecting the capitals that the Deputy President and his delegation visited.

They said a commercial flight would have cost more because it would entail circuitous and torturous trips to European capitals and back just to pick up connecting flights.

It was explained that if Ruto had travelled to one country alone using a chartered flight, it would have cost at least Sh15 million, and that nine officials accompanied the Deputy President.