The Chairman of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), John Ngumi, has found himself on the receiving end after he was sensationally accused of coercing his employees to hire him a helicopter to fly to Mombasa.
Reports indicate that Mr Ngumi forced the company to hire a chopper for Ksh976,000 to attend an event at the coast while the staff went by road.
However, addressing the claims that have since spread widely, KPC Managing Director Joe Sang dismissed the allegations that they were forced to hire a helicopter for Mr Ngumi terming the statements as 'untrue'.
In a press release, Mr Sang disclosed that the Company deliberately opted to hire a helicopter for the chairman to travel to Mombasa where KPC end-of-year games were being held.
The Chairman had been invited to address the staffers at a dinner to end the year but he was unfortunately held up in Nairobi where he had several meetings.
Sang noted that following the busy schedule, Mr Ngumi was not able to be at the Coast in good time adding that his other option, which was the company's helicopter, was unavailable as it had been released to the CS for Energy & Petroleum, Charles Keter.
This, in turn, made the company to hire a helicopter for Mr Ngumi to travel to Mombasa.
"Unfortunately, the Chairman had meetings in Nairobi that day, making it difficult for him to honour the invitation to address staff, much to the staff's potential disappointment. Ordinarily, the KPC helicopter would have been available to get him to Mombasa in time without affecting its normal patrol of the Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline, but on that day, it had been released to the CS Energy & Petroleum for other official duties," Sang stated.
In the presser, the MD revealed some of the messages he received from Ngumi stating that they were simply deliberating on the best options available to make sure the Chairman attends the meeting.
"I have just been called by the CS's office asking me to allow him to keep the helicopter until the weekend. I have agreed. Given KQ's current staff challenges, I am unwilling to make any plans based on a flight booking with them on such a tight time schedule. I really cannot change my Board meeting in Nairobi and it remains likely it will end at the earliest 3:30pm. Therefore, unless you can work out another flight arrangement, I will not travel and instead will ask one of the Directors to represent me at the function." Mr Ngumi's message to Amy Mate & Linda Munywoki - the KPC staff.
It was after this that the company opted to hire a helicopter for the Chairman.
