THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF KILIFI
Kilifi Governor Press Office
PRESS STATEMENT
GOVERNOR KINGI IS NOT UNDER INVESTIGATION ON CORRUPTION
In the Wednesday, March 1, 2017 edition of the Daily Nation, allegations were made suggesting that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is concluding investigations into possible misuse and wastage of over a billion shillings in Kilifi County.
The Nation story further claimed that one of the matters in the investigation is the purchase of the 11-acre Mtwapa Bus Park and market land in which, according to the Nation, an acre was bought at Shs. 28 million, bringing the total to Shs. 308 million, yet an acre at the location goes for about Shs 3 million.
We would like to state that these Daily Nation corruption claims amount to sheer propaganda against Governor Amason Kingi. Further, the Governor of Kilifi is not under any investigation on corruption allegations as claimed by the Daily Nation.
It should be noted that on the 16th and 17th November, 2016, the Daily Nation carried a similar story alleging that money lost by the Kilifi County Government had risen from Shs. 51,569,775.00 to Shs. 1.18 billion. This was not true.
We confirmed that only Shs. 51,569,775.00 was irregularly paid to various accounts belonging to companies based in Nairobi and that the matter had been reported to the various investigative agencies, including the EACC.
Further, we came to learn that the allegations of the loss of Shs. 1.18 billion reported by the Daily Nation were based on a list of payments made by the County Government. These payments were verified and were all genuine transactions made by the County Government for goods and services rendered.
On the Mtwapa land matter, also raised in the Daily Nation, we would like to state that when the Governor visited the EACC offices in Nairobi last year, he took the investigators through the procurement process done by the County. He told them that this was an open tender and that the successful bidder was Future Links Ltd at ksh.308million.
To ensure that the people of Kilifi got value for their money, the County Government invited the Jubilee National Government to do valuation of the land. The National Government valued the land at ksh 310 million.
As a measure of due diligence, the County Government sought to get a second valuation from a private valuer who was identified through a competitive process. The private valuer valued the land at ksh 295million.
On the strength of these two valuation reports, the County government paid the purchase price of Shs 308 million after it received the titles showing that the County was the registered owner.
We are aware that some media houses, in particular the Nation Media Group, has churned out propaganda stories against Governor Kingi. We re-state that the Governor is not under any investigation on corruption allegations, as alleged by the Daily Nation.
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