A Ksh. 30 Million bribe to NEMA Director-General Geoffrey Wahungu saved London distillers, a source privy to the saga has tipped us.
The national assembly had ordered the closure of the Distiller over environmental pollution.
So serious is the saga that members of the National Assembly’s Implementation Committee sent an emissary to London Distillers MD Avin Galot to negotiate a bribe all to no avail.
The bitter and frustrated MPs vowed to teach the company a lesson, by all means.
The MPs have now threatened to sanction an independent probe to ascertain complaints of environmental pollution by the distiller, after their failed extortion attempts.
After being summoned by the bitter MPs, the corrupt NEMA officials failed to convince them that that residents of Erdermann Property Limited in Athi River were safe from toxic pollution.
The Committee on Environment and National Resources in a 2018 report directed Nema, London Distillers, Machakos county government and the Environment Ministry to take an appropriate intervention on the pollution issues raised including the closure of the distiller.
The committee gave London Distillers six months to put in place technology for waste management or stop operations. The period elapsed in March.