A Sh179 million corruption case yesterday came back to haunt former Information and Communication Technology Principal Secretary Bitange Ndemo during his vetting by a parliamentary committee for appointment as Kenya’s ambassador to Belgium.
While appearing before the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly that is vetting President Kenyatta nominees for appointment to various missions abroad, Dr Ndemo had a difficult time exonerating himself from the case even as the MPs pressed on.
At some point, Dr Ndemo, with a net worth of Sh190 million, told the committee chaired by Nyaribari Chache MP Richard Tongi that the court had cleared him of the allegations but, when he was asked to table the court judgment, he could not.
“The Malili case was a complete abuse of office by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The high court dismissed the case in my favour because I was not involved in it,” Dr Ndemo told the committee. However, when Mr Tongi demanded that he tables the court judgment absolving him from the scandal as requested by Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo, he did not.
Mr Kilonzo had lamented that, due to the former PS’s role in the scandal, many people were deprived of their land. Dr Ndemo was in September 2014 charged with wilful failure to comply with procurement laws, abuse of office, stealing and conspiracy to commit a felony.
This was after Sh179 million was reported missing in the controversial sale of Malili ranch. The money was allegedly stolen in 2009 from shareholders of the ranch after 5,000 acres was sold to host the Konza technology city. Dr Ndemo started his career as a financial systems analyst and later moved to the University of Nairobi as a tutorial fellow.
He progressed in his lecturing career to become a senior lecture, the chairman economics department, and associate professor. He is currently a professor of entrepreneurship at the university.
Yesterday, Gilgil MP Martha Wangare said the court case was the only blot in Dr Ndemo’s impressive resume. Also vetted were Ms Mary Mugwanja (Austria), mr Clement Kiteme (Angola), Ms Mary Gichohi (China), Mr Gathoga Chege (Cuba), A.G Matiiri (Egypt) and Amb Salim Salim (Djibouti). Dr Caroline Karugu (Denmark) was expected to be vetted yesterday but requested to be allowed to appear today.
Ms Mugwanja, the Nyandarua County Transport, Energy and Public Works Executive, pledged to enhance Kenya’s relations with Austria and ensure that the balance of trade between the two countries favours Kenya.
Ms Mugwanja, who has a net worth of Sh70 million, was first appointed in the county government in November 2017 as the Finance and Economic Development exexecutive.
Documents presented to the committee show that it was during her tenure in the finance docket that Nyandarua was ranked the best by the World Bank in management of the Kenya Devolution Support Programme funds in 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in leadership and management and certificate in leadership and management both from Strathmore University.
She also has a Diploma in Secretarial Duties from Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology.
Mr Kiteme’s lack of grasp in Portuguese and French, the main spoken languages in Angola, was his undoing. He however, promised to enroll for a crash course.
He is worth Sh100 million and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute and a Bachelor of Education (arts) in Political Science from the University of Nairobi.
He also has a diploma in National Security from Galilee International Management Institute, Israel. National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai is among the nominees who will be vetted this morning.
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