State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita has hit out at Jimi Wanjigi over public utterances on the cost of the multi-billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project.
Nzioka has stated that Wanjigi does not have the capacity whatsoever to comment on the highly contentious SGR cost, which has remained a top-secret.
Speaking during a TV interview, Nzioka accused Wanjigi of misleading the public whereas he has never held any public office that may have made him privy to such information.
“We cannot comment on the cost of the project based on estimates done by people who have never set foot in government or held government positions,” said Nzioka.
“In probably over 10 years, I have never come across Jimi Wanjigi in any government corridor and I don’t know which job he does. So how would he be privy to such information?” He added.
Nzioka, who is also the head of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), was responding to accusations against the Jubilee government on gross mismanagement of SGR loan billions, blatantly declining to reveal the exact cost of the railway.
Appearing on a TV interview on August 29, 2021, Wanjigi claimed that he participated in crafting the SGR plan and it was to cost about Ksh55 billion.
Wanjigi, a businessman turned politician, alleged that the Jubilee governments hiked the cost of SGR to more than Ksh300 billion, admitting that the issues caused friction between him and the Jubilee administration that had just clinched power.
The 2022 presidential aspirant also laid allegations that the initial plan was to have SGR run from Mombasa to Malaba via Nairobi.
Nzioka dismissed Wanjigi’s allegations saying that SGR was to run from Mombasa to Uganda through Nairobi, Suswa and Kisumu.
However, he admitted that the last phase of the railway from Suswa to Uganda via Kisumu was yet to be complete but failed to disclose the reason despite funds being allocated for the section.
“For a number of reasons, the last component that takes the project from Narok to Uganda through Kisumu has not panned. And it has not panned out for reasons beyond the control of Kenyan Government,” he admitted.
The cost of SGR remains a contentious issue, with concerns over the possible misappropriation of funds.
Reports indicated that the cost of most items used in the construction was inflated which led to the loss of billions. An inquest into the SGR dealings revealed that a printer that cost about Ksh75 000 in the Kenyan market cost more than half a million in the railway's deal with one engineer spending more than Ksh5 million on airtime.
