This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
Former Trade Minister Mukhisa Kituyi has been cleared of any Public Accounts Committee (PAC) probe by the National Assembly Clerk, Michael Sialai.
According to Sialai, there is no submission by any officer that would cause PAC to summon Kituyi over a disputed contract award dating back to 2004.
The contract, worth Sh12 million initially, had expanded to Sh340 million by March this year in accrued interest. By this time, the government had paid Sh285 million.
When the matter cropped up before the committee, its members were not satisfied with the responses from Tourism PS Safina Kwekwe to queries regarding the continued payment for services rendered back in 2004.
However, in a letter to Kituyi, Sialai stated that PAC has no interest in him, saying, 'I wish to state that from the records held by the PAC and the National Assembly to date, there is no submission by any officer from any State department in which you have been adversely mentioned and which may cause the PAC to summon you as the then Minister for Trade and Industry in the year 2004 over the above-mentioned subject.'
Kituyi is currently the country's top-ranking official in the UN system and has recently been positively mentioned in relation to the 2022 presidential succession.
It is worth noting that the Auditor General had flagged the payment to Telenews Africa as a pending bill, and the project was to be undertaken in three phases, with Telenews Africa subsequently issued with local purchase orders (LPOs) for phases I and II, which were finalised and settled.
Despite the contract ending on June 9, 2004, the firm continued advertising, and the Ministry of Trade, through the Solicitor General, maintains that there was no contract for phase III, and said the matter is under consideration with the Pending Bills Closing Committee.
