Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika’s husband John Mburu and politician Tony Gachoka’s brother, Willbroad Gatei Gachoka alias William Gatei Muiruri, are behind the controversy surrounding Kemsa Covid-19 tender worth Sh4
billion. A firm known as Kilig Limited, was being pushed to land the lucrative tender and Kenya Commercial Bank was to fund for the deliveries.
Mburu is a close associate of deputy president William Ruto. He is currently facing criminal charges in court in relation to his clearing firm based in Mombasa. He is one of the key financiers of Ruto’s presidential bid 2022. His wife Susan is well placed in Ruto’s campaigns 2022. On the other side, Gatei is a friend to Jubilee deputy chairman, David Murathe.
Documents in our possession show that Kilig Limited owners transferred tenders to another firm to deal with Kemsa. The DP side in Jubilee was out to use Kilig in Kemsa deals but ended up being shortchanged, hence the current outcry from the side. Willbroad Gatei Gachoka is an aide of Murathe and was sacked by Uhuru Kenyatta on December 18 2019 as chairman of Kenya Planters Cooperative Union after the board of directors awarded themselves hefty allowances leaving it dry.
On January 22, 2020, Gachoka had Kilig Limited registered with a Chinese National Zhu Jinping of P O Box 36814-00200 Nairobi. On June 16, 2020, Kilig Limited after landing a lucrative deal at Kemsa, engaged a firm Entec Technology Company Ltd of P O Box 37925-00100 Nairobi, to deliver PPE kits to Kemsa from China at the price of USD 28,535,000 that is Sh3 billion.
John Mburu is associated with Entec remotely and was to clear the goods with KCB funding the tender. Kilig Limited having brokered the tender from Kemsa at Sh4 billion played it safe by involving Entec thus not being responsible for any criminal or legal implication. Those in the deal were to share a cool Sh1.2 billion.
Kilig Limited and Entec Technology entered in what industry players call a bidding commercial contract. The broker was Mburu, well versed in clearing and forwarding deals. By virtue of being close to Murathe, Gatei kept on dropping Murathe’s name and that of State House.
It was on these grounds that appearing before the senate health committee, John Manjari, the suspended Kemsa CEO revealed, how he was under pressure from CS Mutahi Kagwe and PS Susan Mochache to award tenders to specific firms. Entec was to supply PPE sets in two dispatches.
First were 200,000 kits on June 28 2020 and the second installment of 239,000 on July 10, 2020. Documents we have show, to avoid any suspicion in the dealing, Kilig was to enter an Escrow Account Management Agreement with Entec Technology.
Here once Kemsa paid Kilig, it was mandatory for it to pay Entec. Here KCB was brought in the deal. Why KCB being a public bank was to fall under the pressure of political wheeler-dealers. Entec Technology in the documents signed with Kilig gave bank account details where its payments were to be forwarded.
The said account transacts business in USD is Stanbic Bank, Westgate Branch. By last week, investigators in the probe ordered by Uhuru were tracing transactions involving Kemsa payments to local banks to firms involved. Reports indicate, after Kemsa scams erupted and went public, no payments were made to escrow account. Fearing arrest, Gatei and Zhu Jinping moved shares of Kilig Limited to a city young lawyer as a major shareholder.
Gatei and Ivy Minyow Onyango, the young lawyer are lovers. In documents, Gatei did not change the firm contacts. Kilig Limited enjoyed direct procurement. Manjari signed the award letter with a three months grace period to deliver the goods.
The trouble started when then Kemsa procurement director Charles Juma wrote to Manjari twice in April and June raising que0stions over why Kilig was given direct procurement for a tender that was to be competitive. By then, word had spread, Kemsa was liquid. By then, Mochache had written to Manjari in relation to an audit of procurement made on behalf of the ministry relating to Covid-19 payments using World Bank Funds.
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