MPs slap caveat on Sh48m house in probe on youth fund’s stolen cash
Quondarum Ltd Managing Director Mukuria Ngamau when he appeared before
the Public Investments Committee at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on
March 8, 2016. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
MPs on Wednesday put a caveat on a Sh48 million home in
Lavington, Nairobi, said to have been bought with proceeds stolen from
the Youth Fund.
They ordered that the
house, which is under construction, should not change hands because
they suspect it was bought using part of the Sh180 million paid out
illegally by the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
The
house was bought by Mr Mukuria Ngamau, the managing director of
Quorandrum Ltd which was paid Sh180 million by the youth fund for ICT
services which were not delivered. It was bought from Duchess Park, a
real estate developer.
“The Asset Recovery Agency should ensure the property does not change hands to protect public interest.
‘‘The
directors of Duchess Park will also be held liable should the property
change hands from Quorandrum Ltd to a third party,” said Public
Investments Committee chairman Adan Keynan.
Should
investigations confirm that the firm was paid the Sh180 million for
fictitious consultancy services, the residential house could revert to
the State and sold to recover the funds.
Wednesday,
Duchess Park general manager William Onyango told the committee he
advertised for the property on Ethuru Road in Lavington, in the
newspapers and also at a housing exhibition in Nairobi, and that Mr
Ngamau expressed interest and paid Sh48 million in three instalments.
MPs
questioned Mr Onyango on why the payment of such a colossal sum within
such a short period did not raise suspicions about the source of the
funds.
The committee vice chairman,
Mr Kimani Ichung’wa, questioned the legality of the deal which was
concluded without any lawyer representing Quorandrum Ltd.
“You
must be very lucky for a client to pay you Sh48 million, without an
agreement, a lawyer or guarantee. Your relationship with the client
seems to be a special one,” he said.
Mr
Keynan also questioned whether the Real Estate firm was related with
Quorandrum Ltd, but Mr Onyango said Mr Ngamau was not one of the
directors.
The purchase of high-end
properties has emerged as a money laundering trend in some of the mega
scandals that has rocked key State agencies .
A
lawyer representing Duchess Park, Ms Muthoni Kamau said it was allowed
in law for a buyer to involve a lawyer at the point when the property
was registered, a position that Mr Keynan rejected, insisting it was
against provisions laid out by the Law Society of Kenya.
Funyula
MP Paul Otuoma cited a contradiction in the purchase documents drawn by
Quorandrum and what had been advertised by Duchess Park, with the
former stating it was for buying an office block and the latter a
residential unit.
During the
hearings, it emerged Quorandrum Ltd had sub-contracted the construction
of four court blocks for the Judiciary in Bomet, Othaya, Marimanti and
Wang’uru, for Sh18 million to another firm Great Lakes Forwaders Ltd.
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