Why life is suddenly tougher for Anne Waiguru

Ministry of Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru in the spotlight again.

Anne Waiguru is a lady of taste. She goes for the finest stuff in life and what her money can’t buy, public funds can. From fresh details on **w she lavishly spent to furnish her office, it must rank as the most gla****us office to work in.

She has enjoyed all these trappings since she became CS three years ago. Suddenly, **wever, the wild tastes have returned to haunt her, with s**cking information of **w items were inflated to create huge mark-ups in a scheme many believe the minister is a beneficiary.   Business Daily writer E***n Mutai could not have put it better, describing Waiguru’s act metap**rically as “feathering her nest at Harambee **use”.

The Ministry of Devolution and Planning, considered one of the most powerful under the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, procured goods and services at inflated prices d****g her first year even as the government  moved to cut wastage in government. The docket combined ministries of Local Government, Planning, Public Service, Regional Development, Northern Kenya and Arid Lands, Nairobi Metropolitan and Special Projects.

Ball-point pens cost Ksh8,700 each, office TV Ksh1.8m

The ministry set a new record in price inflation with the purchase of 20 ball point pens for the Huduma Kenya secretariat at a cost of Ksh174,000, or Ksh8,700 per pen. Do***ents before Parliament placed the number of the pens at 20.  The do***ents presented to Parliament indicate that Ms Waiguru ordered a complete overhaul of her Harambee **use office – complete with new fittings that included a Ksh1.8 m***ion touchscreen television and a state-of-the-art boardroom that cost taxpayers m***ions of sh***ings.

The National ***embly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that the Directorate of Public Service Management went on a spending spree in proc****g goods and services for Ms Waiguru’s new office, Huduma Centres and other offices within the ministry in the early days of the Jubilee administration.

See also: Anne Waiguru loses Ksh1 billion

In total, the Directorate of Public Service Management and the Huduma Centre secretariat spent Ksh1.27 b***ion to buy goods and services for the minister, Huduma centres and construction of bus parks in the two months that remained of the 2013/14 financial year when new government ***umed power.

The ministry procured 32 boardroom chairs (medium black, swivel with arms, tilt and lock) for Ms Waiguru’s office at Ksh508,000, according to the do***ents. The minister’s office was also fitted with an executive boardroom table meas****g 9 by 5.1m at a cost of Ksh170,000, an executive credenza worth Ksh39,000 and a high back executive ort**paedic mesh chair worth Ksh49,000.

Free soft***e bought at Ksh1.9m

The do***ents s**w that the ministry acquired Adobe In-design CS6 soft***e at a cost of Ksh1.9 m***ion despite the fact that it is available for *************ing on the internet. Corel Draw 13 soft***e for the Huduma Kenya secretariat cost the taxpayers a w**pping Ksh3.44 m***ion.

Through the Directorate of Public Service Management, Ms Waiguru’s ministry procured 18 tailor-made clear male and female ****** dispensers at a cost of Ksh450,000. The do***ents also indicate that the directorate procured a Yamaha Piano “for office use” at a cost of Ksh235,900 in December 2013.

The list of items bought at extremely inflated prices includes 100 units of 4 Giga Bites (GB) flash disks for Huduma Kenya secretariat at Ksh242,500 in November 2013 – meaning each of the 4GB flash disks cost the taxpayer Ksh2,425 compared to a market price of less than Ksh1,000.

The auditor- general had quer*** the expenditure, noting that the ***et register and supporting payment vouchers were not provided for scrutiny. There are things like TV screens purchased at a cost of Ksh1.7 m***ion, p**tocopier at Kh1.4 m***ion, desktop computers at Ksh1.2 m***ion and **overs at Ksh250,000. (Additional reporting from Business Daily)

But the m***ion-sh***ing question remains: W*** President Uhuru **** Anne Waiguru?

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