In a developing story, former Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria and current National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu find themselves at the center of a thorough investigation into the questionable importation of essential food commodities, including edible oils, rice, sugar, and maize. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is intensely probing the duty-free imports, which were intended to mitigate the cost of living but have had minimal impact on consumer prices.
This investigation, growing in scope, has recently involved detailed questioning of key figures from the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC), including Managing Director Pamela Mutua, and some staff of a notable local bank. These interrogations aim to unearth details about suspicious transactions related to the imports.
KNTC, instrumental in importing the edible oil, operates under the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industrialization. Duty-free import permits for rice, sugar, and maize are issued by the National Treasury, advised by the Ministry of Agriculture. The inquiry is delving into the roles these ministries played in the import processes.
The KNTC directors, implicated in these investigations, were temporarily released as the Director of Public Prosecutions postponed pressing charges, pending a thorough conclusion of the investigations.
The focus of the probe includes both edible oil imports, valued at around 16.5 billion, and other duty-free imported food commodities, totaling about 6 billion. Notably, the former Trade CS Moses Kuria and current National Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungu are suspected of having facilitated the awarding of these importation contracts to specific individuals, leading to the procurement of sub-standard commodities now lying idle in KNTC storage facilities.
This investigation is expansive, aiming to determine the integrity of the tendering process and whether public funds were misappropriated. It involves scrutinizing the actions of both successful and unsuccessful tender applicants.
Statements from former ministers Kuria and Ndungu have denied any malpractice or awareness of ongoing investigations in their respective ministries during their tenures. Despite the controversies, the imports were initially defended as legitimate measures to counteract high market prices.
The possibility of arrests looms as more details come to light, indicating a deep-seated issue within the governmental procurement process.
