A controversial letter bearing the letterhead of Presidency continues to cause divisions with Economist David Ndii becoming the high profile figure to join the debate.
Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti is already investigating the origin of the letter which has been disowned by State House.
Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita on Thursday denied the letter, arguing that it was not written by anybody associated with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“The letter is not from the Office of the President, plain and simple and any person or persons wishing to depend on the contents of a document that has been authored on a forged letterhead of a non-existent office does so at their own peril,” he said.
But Ndii now says the author of the letter, which guides Attorney General Kihara Kariuki on how to handle Divisions of Revenue Bill, Mr Justus Nyamunga, is a close operative at State House.
"Nyamunga works for Uhuru. He was Rotich’s boss in Treasury working with Uhuru & Kinyua. Rotich let him go on contract expiry, was re-hired to set up a Budget office in Presidency. This looks like fallout between mandarins and #happyhappyeconomics boys," said Ndii.
Samson Cherargei, who chairs the Senate’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, said the printing of the document on the Presidency’s letterhead was clear evidence of its origins.
“We are aware of the underhand dealings of the National Assembly leadership and the president’s handlers misadvising the president,” Mr Cherargei said even as he warned “people at State House not to succumb to intimidation from the National Assembly, “which has put us in the current financial crisis.”
The controversial letter, which was signed by Justus Nyamunga, the Secretary, Budget and Policy Strategy, has particularly received a hostile response from State House because it puts to doubt the legality of President Kenyatta’s decision to sign the Appropriations Bill before Parliament has passed the Division of Revenue Bill.
Dated July 3, the letter had asked the Attorney General to withhold gazetting of the Warrant of Authority - a legal instrument that sanctions the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund – in order to initiate a “political process” that would enable Parliament to pass the Division of Revenue and County Allocation of Revenue Bills.
Senators have since moved to court to challenge a number of Bills passed by the National Assembly without its input. Divisions of Revenue Bill 2019 is among them.