Waiguru blames Mangiti for the loss of Youth Fund’s Sh180m

Former Devolution secretary Anne Waiguru when she appeared before the parliamentary Public Investments Committee at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on March 24, 2016. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Ex-Devolution and Planning CS Anne Waiguru said former PS Peter Mangiti bears direct responsibility for the loss of money having been a member of the fund’s board.
• Ms Waiguru said government procedures stipulate that communication to the minister must be formal and in writing, and challenged Mr Mangiti to produce any such communication if he had it.

Former Devolution and Planning secretary Anne Waiguru Thursday dismissed claims by Peter Mangiti, the former principal secretary in the ministry, that she was regularly briefed on the theft of Sh180 million from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF).

Ms Waiguru, who appeared before Parliament’s Public Investment Committee (PIC), said Mr Mangiti bears direct responsibility for the loss of money having been a member of the fund’s board.

“The PS represented the ministry in the YEDF board during my tenure in accordance with Section 6(c) of the State Corporations Act, and as the accounting officer of the parent ministry, he had over and above the other board members a fiduciary duty to comply with the principles of public finance and ensure sustainability,” said the former minister who resigned in the wake of a Sh791 million scandal at the National Youth Service (NYS).

PIC, which is chaired by Eldas MP Adan Keynan, is investigating how Sh180 million was transferred from the Youth Fund accounts to Quorandum Limited, a company accused of offering fictitious ICT services to the fund.

“On this particular matter, at no time did the principal secretary [Mr Mangiti] bring these issues to my attention,” Ms Waiguru said in response to Mr Mangiti’s submissions to PIC on Tuesday that he regularly briefed the minister on the fund.

Ms Waiguru said government procedures stipulate that communication to the minister must be formal and in writing, and challenged Mr Mangiti to produce any such communication if he had it.

“Where is Mangiti’s brief that he says he gave me? He needs to provide it. I received no briefing.  As a minister you receive briefs in writing and give directions in writing. I resigned on October 21, 2015 before I saw that brief,” Ms Waiguru said.

Varying accounts of events at the Youth Fund, as presented to PIC by Ms Waiguru and Mr Mangiti, mirror the duo’s different accounts to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that revealed controversial procurements at the ministry.

At the time, Ms Waiguru and Mangiti differed over an assets register that the PS tabled before PAC.

Mr Mangiti presented to the committee documents showing that the ministry bought goods and services at inflated prices during Ms Waiguru’s first year in office — including the purchase 20 ball point pens for the Huduma Kenya secretariat at a cost of Sh174,000, translating to Sh8,700 per pen.

READ: Waiguru’s ministry buys ball pens at Sh8,700 each

Also surprising was the revelation that Ms Waiguru ordered a complete overhaul of her Harambee House office, complete with new fittings that included a Sh1.8 million touchscreen television.

In dismissing Mr Mangiti’s documents, Ms Waiguru said the PS had presented incorrect data.  Mr Mangiti retracted the report saying it was in draft form and contained errors.

On Thursday, Ms Waiguru said Mr Mangiti had a duty to brief the Cabinet secretary on the issues of concern that came to his attention as the link between the ministry and the State Corporation [YEDF].

“I asked for an administrative report because I was not in the picture of what was happening at the fund when I got to know from a letter copied to me by chairman Bruce Odhiambo that the CEO, Catherine Namuye, had been suspended and that the Director of Criminal Investigations had been invited to probe the fund,” Ms Waiguru said.