Posted on October, 25, 2018 at 10:13 am
Mercy Mwai and Irene Githinji
More than Sh16 billion vanished into thin air during the maize importation window between May and October last year, a Senate ad hoc committee probing the fraud heard yesterday.
The revelations came as State agencies — Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), office of Director of Public Prosecutions(ODDP) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)— engaged in a comical blame game over probe into the scandal that has seen President Uhuru Kenyatta warn Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri of dire consequences if he fails to name those implicated in the scam.
DCI boss George Kinoti said his office had nothing to do with the matter after it was taken over by the EACC as the later threw the ball to the ODPP. “My office has nothing to do with the investigations into the matter after it was taken over by EACC almost three months ago.
Otherwise, we would have already taken action and told Kenyans the way forward,” Kinoti said when reached for comment on Kiunjuri’s assertion that he had handed the matter over to him.
But a source at EACC speaking on condition of anonymity insisted that they have completed their investigations and handed the file over to the ODPP.
But at Parliament, Treasury Chief Administrative Secretary Nelson Gaichuhie claimed that after Treasury CS Henry Rotich declared the waiver of duty for imports in a gazette notice published on April 13, 2017 following a request from the ministry of Agriculture, traders including millers took advantage of the opportunity and brought in the country grains in large quantities.
During this window, Gaichuhie said a total of 1,093,092 metric tonnes of both white and yellow maize was shipped into the country. He said the consignment that had maize total duty payable was Sh15.1 billion and the other consignment that had yellow maize; the total payable duty amounted to Sh1.6 billion.
“Between May and October 2017, a total of 1,093,092 tonnes of maize was imported. Out of which 944,558 tonnes was white maize, while 148,562 tonnes was yellow maize? The duty that was supposed to be remitted to KRA was Sh16, 755,079,” he said.
Source: MediaMax Network