US$69M COVID RIP - OFF

…Kenyan MPs demand Covid millionaires report to be tabled in Parliament

NAIROBI- A report on the US$68, 874, 000 billion scandal at Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) is among those that have been prioritised by MPs when sit tings resume on January 25.

Investigative agencies can not act on the recommenda tions of parliamentary reports unless they have been adopted by the House.

Sources in the National Assembly leadership confided to the Nation that the com mittees are determined to get the report listed on the order paper and discussed by the House.

The move, the sources said, is aimed at protecting the im age of the National Assembly so that lawmakers are not seen as a hurdle to having per petrators prosecuted.

Billed as one of the biggest scandals in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s 10-year reign, the US$68, 874, 000 theft involved officials who took advantage of the pandemic to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) at exorbi tant prices.

It has been 18 months of waiting for prosecutions. Both Houses conducted investigations into the matter, with the Senate report gather ing dust on shelves while that of the National Assembly is yet to be debated and adopted.

National Assembly Public Investments Committee (PIC) chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said Speaker Justin Muturi has assured him of ac tion on the report.

“Our report is very clear on who to prosecute, who should not hold public office, who should be investigated and who should not be paid,” Nassir said.

The PIC report is the last by a parliamentary team that investigated the Covid-19 mil lionaires scandal.

It was tabled in the House in September but no recom mendations for top politicians and their allies involved in the scandal were made.

The PIC investigation was the third after that of the Health Committee and Senate. The committee says it is only its report that recom mends the return of the extra money paid to suppliers.

It now wants a multiagen cy team formed to look into the procurement of KN95 and surgical masks between March and July 2020. – KENYA24.