Kenya Airways auditors on Wednesday revealed to the Senate Committee investigating the airline's woes that the record loss made by the company was built up over the years.
The auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and their counterparts from Delloite and Touche told the committee that KQ embarked on an expansion programme dubbed Project Mawingu after the company experienced good financial times in 2011.
In the project, Kenya Airways purchased 10 dreamliners, a move that the experts said raised the red flag.
The auditors further mentioned that the airline's biggest markets in Europe and in the Middle East experienced economic crisis and political instability respectively in the same year, 2012.
Richard Njoroge from the PwC told the committee led by Kisumu Senator Anyang' Nyong'o, that the historic loss of Sh26 Billion shocked many but they had seen it coming.
“The 2015 loss has not happened overnight, it has been happening slowly. The losses had been growing for the last three years,” said Njoroge.
Sitting at the meeting, Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow asked the auditors if they warned the airline over buying new planes given the move was an undoing step. The auditors however responded that they did not have an advisory role on other issues but financial audit only.
The investigation team, a few weeks ago put former KQ CEO Titus Naikuni to task over allegations that he ran down the company. An unapologetic Naikuni said that he was not aware of any corruption at Kenya Airways adding that the hiring of staff during his tenure was in line with the international standards.
Read also: I am not to blame for Kenya Airways' Problems, Titus Naikuni
The national carrier has so far received a bail out of Sh4.2 Billion from the government in a bid to turn around its fortunes.
