By DAVID HERBLING, hdavid@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- UK wants the Sh43.5m spend on bed nets while Kenya is keen on buying ambulances.
State House has failed to end the standoff between
Kenyan authorities and the British government over the use of
£349,057.39 (Sh43.5 million) recovered from the Chickengate scandal.
Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua had been tasked to
unlock the repatriation of the money recovered from a UK firm with a
plan to identify projects that would be funded by the confiscated money.
A senior official at the Attorney-General’s office says that Kenya has failed to reach a deal with the UK authorities.
Britain had recommended that the cash be used to
buy bed nets for pregnant mothers and children in malaria-prone areas,
saying that this would spread the benefits to most Kenyans and has
little operating costs.
The Treasury and the anti-graft agency wanted the
money recovered from British printing firm Smith and Ouzman, which
bribed Kenyan officials to secure contracts, used to buy 11 ambulances
for various hospitals.
Recently, Kenya proposed using the funds to build a
school for the handicapped but the UK authorities have insisted on
purchase of mosquito nets.
“We’re pretty much still where we were. The parties
are yet to decide on a legacy project. There are also suggestions to
build a school for the handicapped. The British have suggested mosquito
nets,” said the official at the State Law Office who did not want to be
named.
“We’re yet to resolve on the signature project.”
Britain’s Serious Crimes Office successfully prosecuted and had top
managers of the security printing firm convicted for bribing officials
of the Interim Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IIEC)
and the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) and recovered the
money that the public lost in inflated printing contracts.
Halakhe Waqo, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC)
chief executive, had in March accused the UK government of trying to
dictate what the funds should be used for, an assertion that the British
government has since denied.
London’s Department for International Development
(DfID) said that the money belongs to Kenyans and they are not in a
position to dictate or give any orders on its use.
The DfID said the Chickengate cash was enough to
buy about 140,000 bed nets, noting that increased coverage of
insecticide-treated bed nets was key in lowering child mortality and
reducing the risk of malaria among pregnant women.
A new fully equipped four-wheel drive ambulance costs about Sh8 million, meaning the seized funds can only buy six ambulances.
Mr Kinyua’s involvement comes as the EACC cleared
persons named in a London court as key players in the scandal. It
recommended criminal charges against former electoral boss James Oswago.
Those missing from the EACC list and were mentioned
in the London court include former Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission chairman Issack Hassan, sacked Energy secretary Davis
Chirchir and ex-Knec boss Paul Wasanga.
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