Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria lamented that an elaborate scheme was being orchestrated against him, arguing that he was the target of detractors at the Office of the President while responding to allegations made against him on Friday, July 3.
Kuria was accused of allegedly warding multi-million government tenders to five family members, four brothers and one sister. The claims were made on social media pages by one Douglas Marigiri who dubs himself to be a statistician and social volunteer.
"Those are fake claims and I will not respond to Harambee House bloggers every morning," Kuria defended himself while speaking with Kenyans.co.ke.
Marigiri led the onslaught against Kuria, alleging that Kuria's sister was among individuals set to benefit from the Gatungu south CDF.
"Through her company, she was awarded a Ksh 4.9 million tender for the construction of a dormitory block at Kiamwangi Secondary School. The company was incorporated on December 22, 2009. She was also awarded another Ksh 4.9 million tender at Wamwangi Secondary School," the netizen alleged.
Another claim levelled against Kuria was awarding four of his brothers contracts by the National Government Community Development Fund (NGCDF) of Gatundu South worth millions. The contracts were for construction and supply works in various schools in the area.
"It seems they have normalized corruption to a family affair since companies owned by close relatives and friends of Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria are the ones that received tenders worth millions of shillings and CDF kitty during his first term as MP," the netizen alleged.
Marigiri, however, did not ascertain whether the matter had been forwarded to relevant government institutions for investigations.
A report by the Daily Nation on January 21, 2020, also detailed the same, stating that Kuria's friends received tenders worth millions of shillings from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty during his first term as MP.
In total, 14 companies allegedly made at least Ksh100 million from 31 tenders funded either by the CDF or jointly with the Ministry of Education. The tenders were mostly for building schools.
In October last year, Robert Kibe Githongo, who was then CDF chair for Gatundu South when the tenders were awarded and currently MCA for Kiamwangi, was arrested by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for allegedly forging his academic certificates.
Chapter 12 of the Public Officer Ethics Act stipulates that a public officer shall not award a contract or influence the award of a contract to himself, a spouse or relative, business associate or a corporation, partnership, or any other body which the officer has interest.
It adds that a public officer shall not hold shares or have any other interest in a corporation, partnership of other body, directly or through another person, if holding those shares or having that interest would result in the public officer’s personal interests conflicting with his official duties.
