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 how she lavishly spent to furnish her office, it must rank as the most glamorous office to work in.
She has enjoyed all these trappings since she became CS three years ago. Suddenly, however, the wild tastes have returned to haunt her, with shocking information of how items were inflated to create huge mark-ups in a scheme many believe the minister is a beneficiary. Business Daily writer Edwin Mutai could not have put it better, describing Waiguru’s act metaphorically as “feathering her nest at Harambee House”.
The Ministry of Devolution and Planning, considered one of the most powerful under the Uhuru Kenyatta administration, procured goods and services at inflated prices during 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. Documents before Parliament placed the number of the pens at 20. The documents presented to Parliament indicate that Ms Waiguru ordered a complete overhaul of her Harambee House office – complete with new fittings that included a Ksh1.8 million touchscreen television and a state-of-the-art boardroom that cost taxpayers millions of shillings.
The National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that the Directorate of Public Service Management went on a spending spree in procuring 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 billion 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 assumed 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 documents. The minister’s office was also fitted with an executive boardroom table measuring 9 by 5.1m at a cost of Ksh170,000, an executive credenza worth Ksh39,000 and a high back executive orthopaedic mesh chair worth Ksh49,000.
Free software bought at Ksh1.9m
The documents show that the ministry acquired Adobe In-design CS6 software at a cost of Ksh1.9 million despite the fact that it is available for free downloading on the internet. Corel Draw 13 software for the Huduma Kenya secretariat cost the taxpayers a whopping Ksh3.44 million.
Through the Directorate of Public Service Management, Ms Waiguru’s ministry procured 18 tailor-made clear male and female condom dispensers at a cost of Ksh450,000. The documents 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 queried the expenditure, noting that the asset register and supporting payment vouchers were not provided for scrutiny. There are things like TV screens purchased at a cost of Ksh1.7 million, photocopier at Kh1.4 million, desktop computers at Ksh1.2 million and hoovers at Ksh250,000. (Additional reporting from Business Daily)
But the million-shilling question remains: Will President Uhuru fire Anne Waiguru?
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