House Committee lists banks that received billions from NYS

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has released names of banks whose account holders allegedly received billions from the National Youth Service (NYS).

In a press briefing on Tuesday, November 15, PAC chair, Nicholas Gumbo, said Equity Bank, Diamond Trust Bank, Stanchart Bank, I&M, NIC, Chase Bank, Bank of Africa, Jamii Bora, Fidelity and Guarantee Trust banks were indirectly involved in NYS transactions that are now under investigations.

“There are billions of shillings that are directly linked to the NYS scandal that were transacted in the listed banks,” he said.

“We will write to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to give us information within seven days on whether they have investigated the listed banks, aside from Family Bank.”

The transactions, according to PAC, are subject to investigation s in the loss of Ksh 1.8 billion from NYS.

He further noted that more money may have been lost in the NYS scandal, in excess of the Ksh 1.8 billion that was recently announced by EACC.

Initially, reports had indicated that Ksh 791 million was lost in the scandal though the figure was revised upon further investigations by the anti-graft body.

“There is more than what is in public domain on the number of companies involved in the scam, and transactions made through these banks,” said Gumbo.

“The number of companies involved in the scandal runs into hundreds showing the extent of this scandal. We will invite the companies to give their side of the story.”

He further claimed that a lot of the money came from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and NYS account saying there will be investigations to establish where some people at CBK were involved.

The committee’s pronouncement comes days after it probed former Devolution Cabinet Secretary, Anne Waiguru, over the scandal.

In her submissions before the committee, Waiguru distanced herself from the theft allegations instead shifting the blame on former Director General, Nelson Githinji.

Waiguru claimed that despite having been removed as the AIE (Authority to Incur Expenditure) holder, Githinji maintained access to the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and was able to manipulate the numbers.

“Githinji’s pronouncement that he was not in control at the NYS, and claims that he is innocent of the theft of NYS money are false.”

“In fact, Githinji still maintained access to IFMIS system after he was removed from being AIE holder, a time during which the Ksh 791 million was lost.”

She moved to discredit Githinji saying the fact that he is currently in court for forging documents during his tenure as DG at the NYS, points at an individual whose credibility should be put to question.

The former CS also denied knowing Josephine Kabura, a businessman allegedly at the centre of the scandal, saying she had never met or talked to her.

“If it is true that Kabura and I were friends even before I became Cabinet Secretary, there should be correspondents to prove the same. There should be calls or texts that we exchanged, how come such do not exist?” she questioned.

A day before Waiguru appeared before the committee, Kabura had her day to testify on the issue.

The 35-year old businesswoman said that her 20 companies were single-handedly awarded NYS contracts saying her role was to supply materials to the service.

Her testimony was, however, refuted by a section of committee members, who claimed that NYS used its own materials in carrying out rehabilitation programmes in slums areas.

The committee questioned Kabura’s links with another businessman, Ben Gethi, who is also a key suspect in the scandal, with Waiguru’s records showing they had had several communications.

She was at pain to answer how similar amount of money withdrawn from her account was deposited by Gethi in his accounts in what could point at collaboration in the alleged theft of the NYS money.

Additional Reporting by Sylvia Chebet & Benjamin Wafula