In our introductory story about the filth and rot within the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) we illustrated just how sensitive and strategic this Parastatal really is to the health and wealth of our Republic and the future generations.
To put it in the hands of charlatans and ne’er-do-wells is literally putting a rope around the neck of fellow Kenyans, and should be treasonable, punishable upon conviction, by only one option – DEATH.
With the disingenuously talent-less Kenyatta family tightening the economic noose around the necks of blind Kenyan voting machines, it was only a matter of time before this ravenously greedy family dug its claws into Kenyas nascent energy sector, through the capture of the key strategic parastatal.
At the very beginning of the Uhuruto era, he had put together a team headed by his long-serving (and probably long-suffering) CBA boss Isaac Awuondo, to put together a raft of proposals aimed at complete parastatal reform.
Awuondo, who has served the Kenyatta family dutifully for more than 2 decades, marshalled his team into line and in a year, handed in their report to the appointing authority – Uhuru Kenyatta.
It is our belief that Uhuru was summoned by the real Kenyan President – Mama Ngina Kenyatta – to her home in Ishaweri in Gatundu, and asked pointedly, “Whom do you take after in the family, being so stupid?” – “coz it’s certainly not me, kichwa maji!” she continued while prodding his head threateningly with a finger…
All the while, Uhuru would be staring helplessly at her with his bloodshot eyes and breath reeking of some breakfast tots of fine whisky, knowing that his one chance of actually showing Kenyans some real Kenyatta balls had disappeared like a wisp of smoke in a strong wind.
That was probably how the entire program of parastatal rationalization was put on ice for the practical reason that the Kenyatta brood could not allow key cash cows, now under their control since Uhuru was the country’s President, be strengthened before they took their turn, to molest the institutions and continue to build their formidable wealth.
Which would probably explain why they would install their most trusted henchman –Kibuga “Kibby” Kareithi as the Chairman of the Board of NOCK and the reason why the looting continues unabated.
Just a few short weeks ago, we saw another drunk-with-power appendage of the Kenyattas by the name David Murathe storm media spaces in an unsolicited attack on the other rabid looter – DP William Ruto.
Murathe has been associated with being the bagman for the Kenyattas, collecting the kickbacks mainly from Chinese contractors who happily offer large infrastructure projects at hugely inflated prices, and which in most occasions will hamstring the clueless Kenyan electorate with a debt burden that they will certainly bequeath their grandchildren.
Some of you may remember that David Murathe, son of the 70s and 80s alcohol magnate W.G.Murathe, was a UON student leader at the time of the 1982 attempted coup and he was one of the young men who were rounded up by the dreaded Special Branch and locked up incommunicado for weeks.
We can only imagine the horrors Murathe underwent at the hands of these soulless ghouls in their quest to please their master –Moi. It is for this reason that people generally allow him the latitude to act kinda crazy, smoke weed openly. They understand that it is therapeutic for the PTSD syndrome.
So, Kibby Kareithi (the modern day albeit educated Wanyoike Thungu from the Jomo era) arranges for the flouting of procurement rules and bypass of financial safeguards within the organization while Murathe collects the “cut” from the Chinese and arranges who gets how much in order to tie-off loose ends.
Murathe also has the political clout to ensure that these matters are not followed up by investigative agencies, even if it means selling out the other side in the Jubilee disaster in the Elgeyo Markwet dam saga, to throw Kenyans off the scent of where the real looting is taking place.
There is surely no honour among thieves.
While Kenya Pipeline has been a Kalenjin gravy train, NOCK has been virtually exclusively a Kikuyu operation, from staffing right through to patronage.
See how they describe themselves…
“National Oil is among the few African national oil companies directly involved in the search for oil and gas. National Oil operates its own exploration acreage in Block 14T which is located within the Tertiary Rift Basin and runs from the shores of Lake Bogoria down to Lake Magadi Basin on the border of Kenya and Tanzania”..
Enter the central actor in this NOCK charade by the name Bureau of Geopolitical Prospecting (BGP) – a Chinese company which was contracted by NOCK in August 2016 to “shoot a 300-km seismic line for oil & gas exploration/prospecting in NOCK-owned Block 14T (above) from June to October, 2017 at a cost US$ 5,717,800, inclusive of 5% withholding tax.
Caption: Snapshot of the clause in the BGP -NOC contract specifically laying out the contract amount.
The science of it is actually very simple to understand..
The area called Block 14T is actually a line from Bogoria to Magadi.
A seismic survey is conducted by creating a shock wave – a seismic wave – on the surface of the ground along the Bogoria – Magadi line, using an energy source. The seismic wave travels into the earth, is reflected (back to the earth surface) by underground formations, and returns to the surface where it is recorded by receivers called geophones – similar to microphones…
Are we 2geza?
By analyzing the time it takes for the seismic waves to reflect off of underground formations and return to the surface, a geophysicist can map predict where oil or gas may be trapped in sufficient quantities for exploration activities.
While the science may be tricky, the math is very simple! You have awarded a contract to a Chinese contractor for $ 5.7 million but somehow the amount is varied upwards under the most dubious circumstances to over $ 13.8 million.
Caption: A screenshot of the NOC Oracle ERP showing how Francis Njuguna approved the double allocation of invoices and payments for the same project
This is the most mindlessly brazen act of an egotistic management and Board that they openly double-paid EXACT same amounts to BGP as shown in the screen-grab of the Oracle system and the schedule of payments.
Caption: The NOC Oracle ERP schedule of actual payments to BGP of over Ksh.1 Billion against real contract value of approx Ksh. 500m
But NOCK management and Board were not yet done with milking this particular 2D Seismic survey, apparently in search of Oil and Gas that would (theoretically) catapult Kenya into the league of gas and oil producing countries and the billions of dollars such a find would bring.
For this small-time looting, NOCK bosses chose a British firm RPS Energy to conduct Quality Control consultancy for the same Seismic survey.
The contracts were signed by the RPS Energys’ Directors Derek Campbell and John Packer while NOCK signatures were appended by former CEO Summaya Athmani and Secretary Pauline Kimotho.
Summaya Athmani was ejected from her position as CEO in 2016 by the cabal of mainly Kikuyu interests, who wanted a free hand to loot the institution with impunity. The actual reason was the vested interests on how to “handle” contracts which were in excess of Ksh. 75Billion which were making those with itchy fingers go absolutely bananas.
The contract with RPS Energy was contracted for $ 188,930 as shown in the appendix for commercial terms, which is part of the signed contract.
All these “mzungus” you see driving around in 4-wheelers are mostly nothing more than ordinary hyenas, despite their Governments often pontificating at African Governments about corruption.
On this quality control consultancy contract, RPS was paid a whopping Ksh. 47.6 million up from the agreed and contracted Ksh. 18.8 million, meaning there was an out-of-contract inflation of about Ksh. 20 million on this small contract alone.
Caption: The contract cost of the project agreed between NOC and RPS Energy. How the payments exceeded the contract value is clearly a case of outright theft.
Does anyone think that this would be of great interest to the Serious Fraud Office in Britain, to assess for themselves the complicity of British firms in corruption?
To launder the money especially the large amounts by the Chinese contractor BGP, the company would create a shell company which it would designate as the Community Liasion Office, and which would supposedly do CSR work and ensure the locals interests are protected.
The man behind this movement of the stolen cash from the BGP side is the senior accountant Bismark Ngene.
A second stream used for the launder of the stolen monies was again, the use of an outside “consultant” to be embedded at BGP and who goes by the name of Joel Lesale Odupoi and whose bank account at NIC Bank (1370009175) Galleria Branch, was used to move in excess of Ksh. 30 million.
Caption: Joel Lasale Odupoi chilling, a “contractor” for NOC inside BGP whose bank accounts were used to move tens of millions of stolen funds from NOC
This is someone contracted outside the laid down procurement and human resources procedures of the organization is similar to how NOCK also hired another HR consultant (Domitila Wanzila)to advise them on the upgrade of their Oracle ERP despite having a fulltime HR Manager.
Odupoi who describes himself as an Environmental impact assessment professional actually complained to colleagues at that time, just how hamstrung he was by the NOCK bosses for whom he was laundering the loot.
Ominously, BGP seems adept at the game of paying massive kickbacks to NOCK bosses and to do this, was able to get NOCK to insert a bank account in their ERP system that was DIFFERENT from the account in the signed contract.
Caption: This is the account that was used to receive the double allocated payments shown above and from which the kickbacks would be paid.
This is the account that was used to receive the double allocated payments shown above and from which the kickbacks would be paid.
This was made easier because the bank account is domiciled in Dubai, despite BGP being based in the Westlands area of Nairobi.
Who will save this country from itself? Who will bring an end to the wanton looting that has impoverished an entire Nation? Do these looters actually believe that with the private firearms they masquerade with, that when the day of the revolution comes, they will be of any help?
We call upon DPP Noordin Haji to expand the scope of investigations to include the Kikuyu cabal within NOC and to end the perception of targeted investigations against the Kalenjin weasels.
Editors Note: While seeking clarification, we were informed that the CEO of National Oil Corporation said she cannot negotiate with terrorists like Cyprian Nyakundi because she thinks we don’t have information. She says that my claim of being in possession of 8GB of data is a lie and called my bluff. Well ma’am, challenge accepted. You and Kibuga Kareithi will be toast by the time I’m done with you.
