E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Awori Knew Of Passports Deal, PAC Told

A parliamentary watchdog committee yesterday heard that Vice-President Moody Awori was consistently informed about the tamper-proof passports deal.

But former Home Affairs permanent secretary Sylvester Mwaliko declined to discuss in detail the information he passed on to Mr Awori, arguing it was a subject of a court case.

The revelations came as the Public Accounts Committee asked the police commissioner to give State security to former director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Philip Murgor. Sources described as "shocking" the information Mr Mwaliko gave to the PAC, chaired by Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta.

Unlike former Finance PS Joseph Magari, who declined to appear before the committee citing the sub judice rule, it is said Mr Mwaliko wanted to correct the impression that the technical arm of the ministry kept the VP in the dark over the Sh2.7 billion passports project. The blame game between the VP and his PS was reactivated last week when Mr Awori appeared before the committee and passed the buck to Mr Mwaliko and his team.

Handled by technocrats

In his written statement, the VP said: "Technical matters concerning this project were handled by technocrats in the ministries concerned. These were respectively, the permanent secretary, ministry of Home Affairs; permanent secretary, Treasury; the attorney-general and the technical committee known as Government Information Technology Services (GITS)."

It meant, he said, that he was not personally involved in making decisions about the Sh2.7 billion tamper-proof passports deal, which is among the Sh7 billion Anglo Leasing projects giving the Kibaki administration a major headache. The VP also blamed Mr Mwaliko for the ministerial statement he gave in Parliament defending the project.

But yesterday, it is said the former PS claimed it was impossible for his team to have kept Mr Awori in the dark. He, however, brushed off questions by committee members on the details of how the cost of the passports deal was increased from Sh800 million to Sh2.7 billion.

Such details, Mr Mwaliko reportedly said, were subject of a court case and he could not discuss them. Mr Mwaliko arrived at Parliament Buildings at 10.30am and was with PAC members until 1.30pm.

In the afternoon, PAC grilled Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) governor, Dr Andrew Mullei and his deputy, Ms Jacinta Mwatela. Earlier in the day, the committee wrote to Major-General Hussein Ali requesting him to grant Mr Murgor round-the-clock protection.

Sensitive cases

In a letter signed by Mr Kenyatta, they said the former DPP handled sensitive cases during his tour of duty and deserved tight security. "While taking evidence from him, he expressed great concern that matters relating to his personal security and his right to protection by the State have been handled lightly. This is, therefore, to request you to ensure he is given adequate security at all times," they said. Last week, Mr Murgor gave evidence on corruption to the committee.