Kidero Graft Files: How A Freight Firm Was Awarded Garbage Multi-Million Collection Tender Before Its Registration

After staying in the colds and corridors of justice for long, Evans Kidero is set to join the government as the CAS for the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment post that he won after breaking ranks with ODM leader Raila Odinga and it also came at a time when he lost the election petition challenging the election of Homa Bay governor Gladys Wanga.

Like documented, the incoming CAS has had a dark path in his past including tainted stay at collapsed Mumias Sugar and previously Nairobi County where he served one term as the city’s governor. At the end of his tenure, he left a trail of graft cases that has seen him spend a better part of his recent years battling corruption scandals.

The former governor and ten others have since been accused of conspiring to commit fraud which led to the loss of Sh213,327,300 at the county government between January 16, 2014, and January 25, 2016 for services not rendered.

Peposi Freight Kenya Limited.

One of the most puzzling cases is that of Peposi Freight Kenya Limited, a company that won garbage collection tender with the county before it was registered.

According to a probe report presented to the then Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero and the then Nairobi County Secretary Lillian Ndegwa, the firm was neither contracted for such works and the documents used to register and process payments were all forged.

The firm was paid Ksh 7.6 million only four days after it was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company.

The firm opened a bank account on December 16th, 2014 and the deposit made four days later at its City Hall Branch. It was alleged that the firm won the tender with the county before it was registered.

The probe report shows that the account number in question, 01148230311300, was opened by two individuals who indicated their names as Mohammed Adan Ibrahim (ID number 1107823) and Mohammed Bashir Ibrahim (ID number 2302058) both of Post office Box number 21140-00100 Nairobi allegedly using forged certificate of registration disguised as from registrar of companies to open the bank account four days before the payment was done.

Detectives say that the firm was registered on December 16, 2014.

They then used fake certificate CPR2014/169610 to open the account on December 20, on a Saturday when the payment was done.

Ordinarily, Saturday is not an official working day but it remains unclear how the payment was transacted.

The same day the account was opened, Sh5,000 was deposited into the account by a customer only identified as Mohammed.

Later in the day, a cheque deposit (cheque number 134) of Sh7,612, 540 was made.

And on December 30, 2014, after the bank raised questions, the cheque was recalled.

Bashir Ibrahim and Adan Ibrahim were charged with four counts of conspiracy to defraud, forgery, altering of documents and obtaining money totaling to Sh7.6million by false pretext for garbage collection.

Even during Sonko’s tenure, the garbage collection scandal persisted. Mike Sonko allegedly pocketed Sh20 million from a remunerative garbage collection contract involving Nairobi County government.

According to EACC, some of the firms that won the Sh357 million tender wired more than Sh20 million to Sonko’s personal bank accounts in what is now believed to be kickbacks.