A Principal Secretary in the current government could face charges for auctioning state vehicles at a throw-away price.
Despite specifications in the tender, Labour PS Dr Ibrahim Mohamed is accused of commissioning selling of the vehicles below the expected price.
Usually, government disposes properties including vehicles at a depreciated price although the selling is done through tendering.
A Peugeot 504 Station Wagon was sold for Sh12,000 while three Nissan Patrols, which had received combined bids of Sh5.2 million, were sold for Sh522,000 or 10 percent of what bidders were willing to pay for the vehicles.
Public Accounts Committee led by Opiyo Wandayi has recommended prosecution of Dr Mohamed after it was established that the government may have lost millions.
“The DPP should move with speed and prosecute all those found to be culpable in the irregular disposal of the vehicles,” Opiyo Wandayi, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said in a report adopted by Parliament before it broke for Christmas
“The Cabinet Secretary should discipline the accounting officer and the officers who were involved in the disposal of the assets contrary to Section 72(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, No.8 of 2012 and surcharge the officers where the amount of loss is quantified,” the report notes.
However, in his defence, Dr Mohamed denied knowledge of the government losing funds through the exercise.
“No vehicle was disposed-of at a lower price than the reserved price and therefore there was no loss of public funds and assets,” Dr Mohamed said in submissions to PAC.
The Committee has also asked Labour Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, who doubles as Finance boss to take action against the PS.