Whistleblower wants EACC to probe GDC for corruption in procurement

Jared O. Othieno, Managing Director, Geothermal Development Company (GDC) A whistleblower has smelled corruption at the Jared Othieno-led Geothermal Development Corporation (GDC) following a suspicious hiring of a PR agency which is being paid Sh0.5 Million every month. Cnyakundi.com can authoritatively report that the whistleblower has requested the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate conspiracy to defraud the public through the hiring of the agency. Even the GDC staff union The Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union (KETAWU) protested the hiring of a PR firm. In a letter dated 19th November 2020, which we have seen, the union Branch Secretary, Michael Opiyo, beseeched the CEO to discontinue the proposed hiring of the PR agency. Opiyo argued that the GDC communication department is staffed with enough (18) people. Opiyo did not see the rationale of spending more money on private firms. He was also worried that union members will be rendered jobless. However, his prayers were rejected because in February 2021 GDC contracted an external PR agency. Strangely, the advert for the services was not placed in newspapers as is the requirement in government procurements. Now Kenyans are interested to know who is benefiting from this tender. The corporation has a lot of corruption and mismanagement. Almost every department is outsourcing services which can be done internally. GDC has over 1,500 employees. The company mandated to explore geothermal resource also has about 20 departments. The management doesn't care. GDC The cost of GDC corruption It is estimated the company loses about Sh500 Million every year because of duplication of works. Is It appears that the ploy of outsourcing is the new clever way to milk the GDC. Sources say GDC staff are demoralized and demotivated as the company no longer promotes or engages in staff improvement plans. Reports indicate that the Human Resources department has failed to bring order at GDC because the manager is not qualified and has personal interests. 'People have stagnated in one position even for five years', an anonymous source told nyakundireport.com. KETAWU's letter Download The source continued, 'The company is forcing people to act without acting allowance. They have also refused to confirm acting managers who have been acting for over six years. This is illegal and even unfair.' It is whispered that GDC does not pay staff perdiems and now the amount has accrued to about Sh50 million. This happens while the company is well funded and has money to pay third party suppliers who most of the time do deliver. 'GDC contracts and agreements are always favouring tenderpreneurs. Victimization, unfair management practices, incompetency, and witch hunt is high at GDC. There are also mafias in key departments like Finance and Accounts, Human Resources and Procurement. The mafias control everything they even frustrate to pay money owed to dead staff or their beneficiaries,' the source added. The verdict is that, GDC is messy and a forensic investigation should be carried out on its dealings. Some staff have fake academic papers; most include the wives and mistresses of politicians who are employed at the parastatal. This just goes to show why the company selectively dismissed some of the staff and retained others. Documents Letter to EACC Download