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"id": 253904,
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"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you look at the first two transactions in the year 2001, which were entered into on 15th August, 2001, the Forensic Science Laboratory which has been mentioned, although not really the subject of the probe, Silverson Establishment, which dealt with security vehicles were signed on the same day. Promissory notes for the whole amount were issued the next day, 17th July; a total of US Dollars 144 million. The dollar was then going for about Kshs80. A total of a staggering Kshs11.9 billion was given away by a stroke of a pen. We know the laboratory was never built, and not a single vehicle was ever delivered. We know that some of the money has found its way back and some of the promissory notes have been brought back. However, until a comprehensive audit is done, we may not with certainty, say what, as a country we have lost. We may not be able to say, with certainty what we are likely to lose because of the cases that are arising now, in foreign jurisdictions over the contracts. I, therefore, want to agree with the recommendations of the Committee, that the audit report of all the 18 projects be brought before this House for further scrutiny. We also agree that in respect of the passport issue, which is the subject of this report, conclusive investigations have not only to be done, but to be expedited. You know they are already underway and Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) has informed us that it is about to conclude the work. We need to know who the culprits are. It is the interest of the Government, and of Kenyans to find out. I want to say that given the doctrine of separation of powers, and the way our institutions are, we all have different roles. Parliament as the watchdog of the people has a duty to point out where something ought to be done. I am glad that this Committee has pointed out where they think investigations should be carried out, so as to establish the truth. Like I have already noted, and my colleague from Finance, if he gets a chance will say, the Government is prepared and will very soon lay on the Table of this House, a comprehensive audit report to enable Parliament to do its work. I want to refer to the recommendations of this report which are found on page 57. First, I would like to say that the Government is already doing much of what has been recommended, and it would not make sense for anybody to resist what we are doing. Therefore, we support the recommendations. The Director of the KACC should liaise with the Attorney-General, the Police Commissioner and other relevant bodies with a view to prosecuting those who were involved in negotiating and the approval of the procurement of passports and equipment project. As you may be aware, through public pronouncements by the Government on the 9th February this year, the Cabinet approved the setting up of a coordinating mechanism consisting of my Ministry, the Attorney-General's Chamber, and the CID so that we can, in a comprehensive manner, deal with issues of corruption including the Anglo Leasing matter. I have already stated that the investigative agent, KACC will very soon give a report on this and we will know whether there will be more prosecutions. We know there are already some prosecutions that have taken place. We are also doing our best to ensure that matters in court will progress with speed. As you know, it has become fashionable in this country when one is charged with a criminal offence, to wave the Constitution and say that it protects them from being prosecuted for such cases. Luckily for us, early this year, the Chief Justice published rules that will help with the speedy disposal of these cases. It is the right of any Kenyan aggrieved to go to court, but it is not the right of anyone to go to court as a means of creating total paralysis of cases. Those rules are designed to ensure that anyone who thinks they can make a Constitutional reference or review for April 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 431 purposes of killing a case, are not able to do so. There is a time frame, according to the rules when a case must be disposed of. You can run, but you cannot hide. Everyone should be ready to answer before the court, be acquitted or convicted for the case they have been taken to court with. You will, therefore, be seeing, not in the far future, many activities coming from this coordinative chain. Those who have paralysed their cases through the courts should know that there is now a way of fast-tracking from the courts using the new rules. Therefore, on the part of the Government, we are upbeat and need cooperation of you as the law-makers, as the leaders, and of every Kenyan. We have also, in the second recommendation, asked the Attorney-General to ensure that the 18 projects, which have not taken off are legally terminated. Yes, they were terminated in the sense that the Government is no longer paying. However, I want to agree that we need to be neater than that. The legal processes must take place so that we are not surprised by cases coming from other jurisdictions. Some work is underway; we have not tied all the loose ends. We are in the process of doing that and we will expedite the process. So, that recommendation is in line with what we are doing and we welcome it. The recommendation that in future, no financial agreement should be signed, I take it that it is the financial agreements, especially for external loans, without the approval of the relevant Minister, the Accounting Officer of the procuring Ministry and the Attorney-General, and that the Treasury is satisfied that due diligence has been done by the supplying financing company. Equally, no payments should be made before due diligence requirements are complied with. That has always been the law, by the way. Part of the investigations will be checking who failed to do their work. If you failed to do due diligence, do you deserve to still hold an office if you are a civil servant? If you are a Minister or a business person dealing with the Government, do we need to deal with you again? Anybody who failed to do something or who did something wrong, this is the day of accounting. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the State Law Office is the legal firm that the Government looks upon. We must check whether the work was done in all the offices where these transactions were supposed to be vetted. What does a lawyer do when a client says that he is entering into contracts with company \"x\"? What is the lawyer supposed to do? He is supposed to conduct a search to prove that, that company is a legal entity. Was this done? We will also be checking what the Treasury is supposed to do when it gives authority. Are they supposed to check whether the project is viable? What about the Ministry concerned, is it supposed to check on the viability? Who in particular is vested with this responsibility in the Ministry? It is not very well to talk about a Ministry because it is an institution. We want to go beyond the institution to see the individual responsible who committed an act of omission causing loss to this country and to its citizens. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we cannot, within the workings of this House, be able to get to the bottom of everything. But it is possible to get to the trail, and the investigator will pick it from there. We will then expect answers to come from our investigating agency. I also find it useful that the Committee has, in recommendation No. IV, said that the use of promissory notes as a means of financing Government's expenditure should be restricted and vetted to avoid misuse. I have just told you how Kshs11.9 billion was signed off with a stroke of the pen. This was done through promissory notes which were issued. Promissory notes are as good as money because those people go and discount them with foreign banks the same day. How can we, as a Government, give away Kshs12 billion in a day when we are looking for donors to finance most of what we are doing? Is that reasonable?"
}