Telkom Board Chair Edward ‘Eddy’ Njoroge n Tuesday, March 21 revealed that former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani sent him an undated resignation letter before the end of his term.
Njoroge made the remarks while appearing before joint parliamentary committees on Finance and National Planning and that of Communication, Information & Innovation, to shed light on the controversial buyback deal.
He was expected to resign immediately after Jamhuri Holding Limited’s (JHL) shares worth Ksh6 billion were bought by Telkom Kenya, where the government is a major shareholder.
According to Njoroge, he is currently the substantive board chair.
He explained that the board of Telkom was not properly constituted when Telkom bought shares from JHL prompting him and the board to seek the Attorney General’s opinion before the transaction was finalised.
This twist opened a can of worms with committee members confused as to the legality of the multi-billion shilling transaction.
Baringo Women Representative Florence Jemutiah posed, “Why wasn’t there a quorum (in the board)? Am I talking to the chair of Telkom or a nominee of Helios who is also a chair of JHL? Why didn’t you know about the transaction even though you have been in the process of JHL since 2015?
Njoroge divulged that he had been on the board of Telkom since 2011. He started by representing Orange Telkom. He was nominated for appointment to the board by Jamhuri Holdings Limited.
Following the developments, he represented Telkom on the board and not JHL nor the Government of Kenya (GoK).
Homa Bay Women Representative Joyce Bensouda and Kesses lawmaker Julius Ruto sought clarity on the relationship of Eddy Njoroge to Telkom vis-à-vis his nomination to the board by JHL.
During the hearing, Njoroge maintained that he did not receive a portion of the Ksh6 Billion that was in the deal.
The committee is investigating the circumstances in which the government disbursed Ksh6 billion to Telkom Kenya to buy shares from JHL, a firm registered in Mauritius.
The joint committee also summoned former ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru and Yatani to shed light on the deal.
The Telkom-Jamhuri deal became a hot-button topic since the Kenya Kwanza administration got into office.
President Ruto has accused the previous regime of using the transaction to oil the pockets of a few individuals ahead of of elections.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua voweed to expose individuals who looted public coffers towards the end of President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime in 2022.
This inquiry took place three weeks after the Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o alleged that former CS Yatani coerced her to approve the withdrawal of Ksh15.5 billion a few days before the August 2022 General Election.
She revealed that out of the funds, Ksh 6 billion was meant to enable the government to buy shares from Helios investments.
