Embattled Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich will on Wednesday return to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters for grilling after spending the better part of Tuesday with detectives over the Sh21 billion dams scandal probe.
DCI George Kinoti last week revealed payments amounting to Sh21 billion for the construction of Kimwarer and Arror dams in Elgeyo Marakwet County were made to several companies even before work had officially started.
Despite the payments being made, Rotich has defended his moves, maintaining that no money was lost in the process, adding that the DCI may have been misled.
“The fees are standard in international banking and are paid in all credits acquired by the government under export credit arrangements as well as other loans,” Mr Rotich said, noting that the costs and expenses, including advanced payments, were provided for in the dams’ financing agreement.
Deputy President William Ruto has also dismissed claims that money was lost in the process, accusing ODM leader Raila Odinga of pushing for the investigations of the project for political gains.
“You've heard that government has lost about Sh21 billion in Kimwarer and Arror dam, which is a flat lie!” he said.
“The money in question is about Sh7 billion and for every coin that has been paid, we have a bank guarantee. No money will be lost because we are a responsible government," he added.
On Tuesday, Rotich spent at least 12 hours with detectives with sources saying that he was asked to explain why he had to make the payments without confirming whether or not the contractor had done due diligence.