This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
June 24, 2020 - The impeachment trial of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has taken a new turn with the county's Director of Supply Chain Management, Joseph Otieno, facing questions over the awarding of questionable tenders.
According to reports, Otieno was cross-examined by a lawyer representing the County Assembly that voted to impeach Waiguru, Ndegwa Njiru. Njiru poked holes in the procedures of the awards, alleging that Waiguru had appointed her close associates, Pauline Kamau and Gichira Wayne, to key committees to secure her interests.
However, Otieno denied these claims, stating that Waiguru does not have a say in tender awards. He also clarified that the process of appointing members to the Tender Committee was procedural and accused the ward representatives of being on a fishing expedition.
During the cross-examination, Njiru sought to prove allegations and accusations levelled against Waiguru for using Pauline and Wayne as alternate chairpersons in all major tender evaluation committees, contrary to the law. Otieno, however, confirmed that Wayne and Pauline had never sat in one evaluation committee, but had been in separate chairpersons to different evaluation committees.
The two, according to the Kirinyaga ward representatives, were at the beck and call of the Governor with the sole aim of securing her interests in the allocation of tenders. Pauline, who serves as the County Director of Administration, once served as Waiguru's Personal Assistant.
Waiguru's lead counsel, Paul Nyamodi, protested the counsel for the Kirinyaga County Assembly, stating that they were on a fishing expedition to nail Waiguru without proving their case.
The committee also heard that there were no two companies that were awarded tenders worth millions of shillings. According to the Kirinyaga MCAs, Waiguru had awarded Velocity and Velocty company tenders illegally, but the procurement chief clarified that the existence of the names of the two companies in the contractual papers was a typo.
