E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Wako - Mwiraria And Awori Not Cleared

Vice President Moody Awori and MP David Mwiraria have not been cleared over the Anglo Leasing scandal, Attorney-General Amos Wako said yesterday.

But he was non-commital on whether or not Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi will be investigated over his role in the scandal.

Attorney-general Amos Wako at a past press conference. He said the Vice-President and MP David Mwiraria have not been cleared in connection with the Anglo leasing scandal.

The AG said Mr Awori and Mr Mwiraria will be investigated to establish if they were involved in the Sh50 billion saga.

Mr Wako made the revelation while responding to criticism against the Government over reports that it had cleared Mr Awori, Mr Mwiraria and Mr Murungi in connection with the Anglo Leasing scandal.

Last week, a Kenya Gazette notice quoted Mr Wako and Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) director Aaron Ringera as having cleared Mr Murungi and others on the basis that tapes recorded by former Ethics and Governance permanent secretary John Githongo were inaudible and could not provide sustainable evidence in court.

Mr Awori was not named in the notice but he was the minister in charge of the Immigration department when the passport deal was being concluded.

Mr Ringera had also dismissed Mr Githongo, saying the former PS was not an investigator and could, therefore, not have been obstructed in his work.

Mr Githongo has criticised the verdict and questioned the Government’s commitment to fighting corruption. He promised to reveal more details on Anglo Leasing.

It was not clear whether or not Mr Wako’s statement left Mr Murungi off the hook over the alleged intereference in the investigations.

Advanced stage

The AG also said KACC was going on with investigations involving the 18 Anglo Leasing cases.

According to him, the investigations were at an advanced stage and reputable international firms have been appointed to evaluate the security projects and advise on recovery of assets.

In a statement, Mr Wako said: “For avoidance of doubt, I reiterate that the investigations into all the Anglo Leasing and security contracts are ongoing and that no person or entity has been cleared.”

He added: “Once these investigations are completed, the files shall be submitted to me for consideration and directions.” Mr Wako explained that there were two sets of investigations into the Anglo Leasing affair which were being pursued.

One involving the substance of the transactions involving the 18 contracts with the fictitious firm, while the other concerned allegations that some key Government officials interfered with investigations.

However, he said the second component of investigations that sought to establish if there was interference had been closed because there was no sufficient evidence.

The issue of interference was brought up by Mr Githongo who named Mr Awori and Mr Murungi as the individuals who wanted to cover up the scandal.

Mr Murungi’s alleged role came to the open when Mr Githongo released the tape to the BBC last year claiming that the minister wanted him to go slow on the Anglo Leasing affair with a promise that the Government would assist him with a case involving his father.

At the weekend, Mr Wako and Mr Ringera were put on the spotlight over their decision to extricate Mr Awori, Mr Mwiraria and Mr Murungi from the scandal. Mr Githongo, who blew the lid over the scandal two years ago, expressed disappointment over the verdict.

The exiled PS said in a statement: “I share with all Kenyans of integrity, and those who believe in due process, deep disappointment at KACC’s conclusion and the readiness of the Attorney General to accept the same.”

He said neither Mr Ringera nor the Kibaki administration had shown any serious interest in pursuing the perpetrators of the scandal.

And he added: “Justice Ringera has made it clear to me on several previous occasions that no action will be taken on the perpetrators of this scandal before the General Election due this year, if ever.”

However, yesterday, Mr Wako said investigations into the affair were at an advanced stage and that the commission was pursuing both the local and international aspects.

“I have been assured that the investigations into all the security contracts both local and international are at an advanced stage,” he said.

He listed the two main cases under investigation as that involving the Sh4 billion Forensic Laboratory and another worth Sh 2.7 billion on the procurement of terrorist proof passports system. The remaining were 16 security-related.

The terrorist proof passport system which was originally Sh800 million was exaggerated to Sh2.7 billion. It fell under the Immigration docket that was under Mr Awori’s office.

However, the VP has denied any involvement arguing that it was dealt with by his permanent secretary and other officers.

By the virtue that he was the Finance minister, Mr Mwiraria admitted signing some of the contracts but he blamed his PS for misleading him.

Mr Mwiraria, too, has denied any involvement and resigned voluntarily last February to pave way for investigations.

With the latest turn, it seems the campaign, especially from his Meru backyard, to have the former Finance minister re-appointed to the Cabinet has hit a brick wall.

The AG said two cases in respect to the Anglo Leasing contracts were already in court after substantive investigations were carried out.

However, he explained that he returned five files to KACC on October 3 for further investigations, which he added, were currently ongoing.

Mr Wako explained that the second set of investigations were found to be insufficient.

“The second category of investigations related to allegations by Mr Githongo to the effect that certain personalities had interfered with the investigations he was undertaking into the alleged procurement irregularities in the two contracts awarded to Ms Anglo Leasing and Finance Limited.”

And he added: “It is these investigations that are the subject of the investigation report released by KACC and published in the Kenya Gazette notice No 488 of January 19.”

Files be closed

Mr Wako said the investigations to the allegations of interference was completed by KACC and “after analysis of the evidence and the applicable law, recommended that the inquiry files be closed for insufficiency of evidence”.

He said after independent evaluation of the evidence, he accepted the commission’s conclusion and recommendations to close the file.

However, Mr Githongo said Kenyans will establish the truth in his assertions on Anglo Leasing and other similar attempts to loot the country’s wealth.

He maintained that the scandal was real and not imagined and was not limited to the two contracts (passport and forensic laboratory). It involved a fraudulent series of 18 contracts amounting to more than Sh50 billion.

KACC dismissed Mr Githongo’s tapes on grounds that he was not an investigator, the tapes were unintelligible and inaudible. In addition, the commission said Mr Githongo refused to record a statement that would have been used to explain the gaps in the tapes.