The Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government has distanced itself from the alleged fake arms deal that came to the fore on Wednesday, June 24.
In a statement to newsrooms signed by Interior PS Karanja Kibicho, the ministry denied any knowledge or involvement in the fake tender.
The ministry has never been aware of, nor involved, nor propositioned the above fake tender. Indeed we condemn in the strongest terms the fraudulent acts aforementioned in the article, if true and urge members of the public to be cautious of conmen and fraudsters pausing as brokers of government tenders as while," the statement reads in part.
Another fake multi-billion arms scandal has hit the country with the Interior Ministry headed by CS Fred Matiang'i being thrown into the mix.
A report by Daily Nation on Wednesday, June 24, indicated that the new scandal, orchestrated by a Nairobi City lawyer, Jacob Oloo, and his team, fell apart after he tried to con his colleagues.
The fresh scandal has raised eyebrows after it was established that some of the suspects had participated in an earlier Ksh39 billion scandal in which former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa was linked.
The victim in the new scandal is reportedly a firm based in Mali, Prenium Interservices, which had already parted with Ksh7.5 million as commitment fees as it prepared to supply 45,000 riffles and 15,000 pistols to the National Police Service.
According to documents cited by the publication, Prenium had written a letter to the fraudsters after they presented themselves as officials from the Interior Ministry and the letter was copied to an alleged Police Commissioner, a post that was scrapped under the 2010 constitution.
"The effective delivery schedule of the 60,000 (45,000 riffles and 15,000 pistols) will be between four to six months," read the letter dated May 20.
The trouble reportedly started when the group fell out over the commitment fee in which the lawyer reportedly attempted to con his colleagues.
Oloo, who is a member of the Law Society of Kenya, rushed to Kasarani Police Station on June 2, claiming that his life was in danger and named John Maingi as the prime suspect.
In his report, the suspect did not describe how his life was in danger but left his car noting that he feared that he would be trailed and murdered in cold blood.
A few days later, however, a person who claimed to work for the Kenya Defence Forces, showed up to pick the car on behalf of Oloo but did not have any documentation proving his position.
When the lawyer was reached out, he claimed that a group of men had stormed his house and held him, together with his girlfriend hostage.
This comes barely a year after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations unearthed the Ksh39 billion fake military arms deal that involved officials from the Office of the Deputy President.
Echesa has since been charged with 12 counts of fraud including an alleged attempt to make a document with intent to defraud Polish military dealers.
Echesa and three co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on a Ksh1 million bail each.
The case is still ongoing.
