Court told how company linked to Wa Iria's wife won Sh543m tender

A former Murang’a County procurement officer testified in an Anti-Corruption Court on Monday, revealing how a Sh543 million tender for media buyong services was awarded to a company allegedly linked to former Governor Mwangi wa Iria’s wife.

Appearing before Milimani Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa, James Kairu stated that the county government, headed by Wa Iria, awarded the media services tender to a company called Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd.

The company’s directors include the former county boss’s wife, Jane Waigwe, and an alleged associate, Jane Mbuthia.

The prosecution alleges that the former county boss, his wife, and Mbuthia conspired to defraud the Murang’a County Government of millions of shillings by falsely claiming to provide media services through the firm for a period of two years, from 2014 to 2016.

In his evidence, Kairu, who is currently the director in charge of supply chain management at the National Youth Service, presented in court a contract agreement signed between the county government and the firm on October, 21 2014.

“Your honour, here is the contract agreement dated October 21, 2014, between Murang’a County Government and Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd. The agreement is for the provision of media buying services as per the attached rate card,” stated Kairu, who served as the chief executive officer and project manager at the county government from 2013 to 2018.

He added: “The agreement here shows that it was signed by Patrick Mukuria, the former County Secretary, on behalf of the county, and by Jane Mbuthia, the managing director of Top Image Media Consultancy Ltd. The agreement was made on October 21, 2014 and signed on October 23, 2014.”

The witness provided a detailed account of how Top Image Consultancy was awarded the tender.

He provided an evaluation report that showed how a 17-member tender committee from the county government approved the award of the multi-million tender.

“Your honour, here are the minutes of the tender committee meeting held on September 16, 2014, in the old committee room, starting at 11 am. In these minutes, there is an attached evaluation for the tenders for 2014 to 2015, which took place on June 16, 2014. I was the secretary to the tender committee that evaluated all the firms that had bid for the tender,” Kairu told the court.

The court heard that after bidders were invited through an advertisement published in a local newspaper on May 19, 2014, the tender committee approved the issuance of the contract to Top Image Media Consultancy.

In his testimony, Kairu, however, defended the procurement process for media buying services under the leadership of the former governor.

Kairu stated that all procedures were followed legally and within the regulatory framework while procuring and awarding the tender for media services for the financial years between 2014 and 2016.

“I wish to state here, as I stand as a witness, that both the process of procuring and awarding the tender was legal and in accordance with the law,” Kairu told the court.

The prosecution stated that it would present 159 payment vouchers revealing how millions of shillings were paid to Top Image Media Consultancy.

The ex-governor and his eight co-accused face charges of conspiracy to commit an offence of corruption, money laundering, dealing with suspect property, conflict of interest, abuse of office, and unlawful acquisition of public property.