Alphonce Shiundu
10 August 2010
Nairobi — Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has washed his hands of the controversial Sh1.55 billion Japan embassy deal, saying only Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula can speak on the details.
Speaking on Tuesday when he appeared before the the Parliamentary committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, Mr Kenyatta said all questions arising from the deal ought to be directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the tender committee which oversaw the purchase.
"The Treasury gives a ceiling and it is for the ministries to hammer out the priorities. We do not go to them and tell them that these are the priorities," he said.
This came as it emerged that perhaps Kenya does not have a title to the property in Japan, which some MPs claim is in a low-end neighbourhood, where no other embassies exist.
"We have no property as we speak and we have no money," said Mr Aden Keynan, the committee chairman. "There's no record that the Ministry of Finance questioned this deal."
Mr Keynan and Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo questioned why the Treasury did not ask for a valuation report or a technical feasibility study on the suitability of the plot before the deal was sealed.
They said 80 per cent of the purchase price was paid even before an agreement was put on the table.
"What if something would have happened to the owner?" asked Mr Kilonzo.
His permanent secretary Joseph Kinyua, who was also at the meeting added: "If there's any issue, it is the ministry of Foreign Affairs to account. It is them to let us know, as you have put it, if we don't have any property, then how did they spend the money?"
Value for Money
The committee proceedings came to head when Treasury's Internal Auditor General, Mr Philip Ndung'u, said the deal was clean and that "the Kenyan taxpayer got value for money" when the government purchased the disputed property.
The committee said the purchase was a result of a presidential directive, but Mr Kenyatta, the Finance Minister, said that his auditor and Treasury were not in the picture.
Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, a committee member, asked: "How is it that we have a transaction between two governments and yet the Ministry of Finance is not aware?"
Mr Kenyatta replied: "We are not at every single meeting where such discussions are made, they could even have been held in Japan or China. These things happen."
Mr Ndung'u said he based his verdict - that the deal was above -- board -- on documents that had been presented to him. He said he sent officers from Treasury and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"There's no evidence that an offer was made from the government of Japan," Mr Ndung'u told the committee before he was shown a letter showing that the deal had President Kibaki's blessings.
Still, Mr Kioni questioned why the Treasury allowed Foreign Affairs to alter Parliament's approval in last year's Budget, because the money was approved to buy "buildings" and "not land."
Mr Kinyua, the Treasury PS, said Foreign Affairs ought to have gotten back to the Treasury before altering the vote, and that doing otherwise was "irregular."
The Ndaragwa MP added that looking at the Internal Audit report, it didn't make sense, why the auditor said that the lifespan of the "natural stone house" was just 20 years.
"The mud house that my father built when we were fighting for independence is still up and I was wondering what these (issue of loss of economic value after 20 years) means," Mr Kioni said.
Mr Keynan then put Mr Ndung'u on the spot over his report saying the government valuer from the ministry of Lands, Teresia W. Kimundu, had put the figure at Sh1.392 billion.
Ms Kimundu, Mr Keynan said, had also argued that there was no embassy located in the neighbourhood.
Mr Ndung'u then told the committee that he had not personally gone to Japan to visit the property, but he had been shown a video clip showing the topography and the security of the property and the neighbourhood.
Mr Eugene Wamalwa, Saboti MP, also questioned why the Attorney General Amos Wako or any other lawyer was not involved in the purchase of a government building.
The auditor told the committee that the land bought was 1,473 square metres.
"In our view, this size offered adequate space to put up a chancery, an embassy and also a parking. The neighbourhood is also a good one," said Mr Ndung'u. He added that an extra Sh54.8 million was paid over the price and that this was well within the procurement rules.
But in coming up with the audit report, Mr Ndung'u conceded that he did not use any professionals like architects or valuers but just documentary evidence.
"Unless there's any other evidence, there's no way we'd come to a different conclusion," Mr Ndung'u said.
Mr Kenyatta interjected just as MPs began an onslaught on the audit report: "If indeed this committee has additional documents that would invalidate what he has concluded, then you can supply those documents."
Mr Keynan objected: "It is the Executive to provide information to Parliament, not the other way round."
The questions persisted. Then after loud animated consultations with his PS, Mr Kenyatta said: "I think you are asking the wrong people, the wrong questions."
Sigor MP Wilson Litole added: "We do not know how much you don't have, that is why we are asking these questions."
Mr Wetang'ula will appear before the committee on Friday to respond to the allegations against him.