Former Kenya Power CEO Ben Chumo on Monday appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Finance and National Planning to be vetted for the position of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson.
Members of Parliament (MPs) tasked the former CEO to declare his net worth and the sources of his wealth on the backdrop of a current court case that has named him a corruption suspect.
Chumo claimed that he was saved from going bankrupt when his daughter qualified to join Ivy League, Yale University on a scholarship.
"I was very lucky my daughter, my last born was the best-performing student at Precious Blood in 2014 and earned a scholarship to Yale University (and) that is where she is.
[caption caption="Presidential nominee for SRC Chair position Dr Ben Chumo"]
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"That opportunity could have deprived me of all the money if it wasn’t for that scholarship. So I thank God that upon retirement, God gave me that gift of the scholarship to take my child for free to Yale," he outlined urging the MPs to clear him for the position to put the "icing on the cake".
Mr Chumo was forthcoming with details of his wealth gained through farming and other investments, however, he attributed his current net worth of Ksh212 Million to his last born daughter.
"Over the 32 years, I made investments across the country. I have some assets in Nairobi…I collect some rent. I have a home. We are raised as farmers so I do some dairy farming. I have some animals, in Eldoret. So I am not complaining as such.
"I can’t say I’m a rich man. In relative terms of course. I’ve not yet reached there. I can support my family. My four children; two of them are already out of the house, two are still in college," Chumo explained.
Nyali MP Mohammed Ali attracted a harsh reprimand from the committee chair when he outrightly referred to Mr Chumo as a 'corrupt official' under investigation.
Moha 'Jicho Pevu' was forced to retract the statement as Chumo declined to comment on the subject insisting that the matter was in court.
[caption caption="Nyali MP Mohammed Ali, member of the House Committee on Finance and National Planning"]
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