This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
On Wednesday night, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko made a shocking revelation on KTN's Point Blank, stating that companies associated with President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have won and been paid for lucrative tenders by the Nairobi County Government.
The Governor was responding to allegations that he had paid Sh150 million to Amaco Insurance, a company owned by William Ruto, in November 2017. Sonko confirmed that the payment was made, but claimed it was for services rendered in 2016, when his predecessor Evans Kidero was in office.
According to Sonko, the payment was made to Amaco for a tender that had been awarded in 2016. He denied any conflict of interest, stating that the DP's company had won a competitive tender.
However, the payment has led to an EACC investigation after detectives noticed that some of the money paid to Amaco was paid to a businessman who deposited some of the cash to Sonko's bank account.
Sonko defended Ruto from any allegations of wrongdoing, saying the DP was not a director at Amaco and that the company had won a competitive tender. He also mentioned that the DP's company was awarded the tender the same way his government competitively awarded Brookside a tender to supply water to ECD centres in Nairobi County.
He said, 'There is a difference between doing business and corruption. I am not trying to provoke anyone, the President is my friend and mentor.' He also used the example of a tender for supplying milk, which many companies applied for, but Brookside won genuinely because it was the only one that had the capacity.
