Nairobi MCAs accuse Sakaja of interfering with probe into revenue system
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja before the County Public Accounts Committee at KICC, Nairobi County on Monday, July 24, 2023.
What you need to know:
- These claims come amid growing concerns over emerging cracks in the 13-member ad hoc committee.
- The committee is currently seeking an extension before submitting its report to the county assembly.
Nairobi County ward representatives have accused Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja of interfering with witnesses in the ongoing probe into the revenue system used by the county executive.
Members of the County Assembly (MCAs), led by the chairperson of the ad hoc committee and majority leader Peter Imwatok, claim the county executive has been holding regular meetings with some of the committee members to compromise them.
“I am aware of the mobilisation by the county executive to derail the findings of this committee and its reporting by having meetings with some members of the committee and MCAs beyond the committee’s jurisdiction,” Imwatok said.
He said he would name those interfering with the committee and derailing its work.
Imwatok also said the ad hoc committee has so far gathered evidence that the Nairobi Revenue System (NRS) is amorphous and will ensure that the county executive is held accountable for the revenue generated by the county government.
“No one knows where the servers of the revenue system are located. No one can authenticate who the chief administrator of this system is and no one can tell how much they collect weekly and monthly," Imwatok said.
"There is nobody who can authenticate. We have invited the Ministry of ICT so that they can tell us where the servers of the system are located. The Interior Ministry has said they do not know anything about NRS,” he added.
These claims come amid growing concerns over emerging cracks in the 13-member ad hoc committee created in October last year to investigate the county's revenue system.
Minority Leader Anthony Kiragu, who is also a committee member, said the ad hoc committee had deviated from its original objective and should simply conclude its activities instead of going back and forth without any sense of purpose.
“We created this committee to establish how revenue generated by the county is lost. We had the hearings and so far so good, no coin has been lost," Kiragu told Nation.Africa.
"We are now losing direction and we have moved to non-issues such as the location of the servers and the system. That tells you that the committee has veered off the path and we need to wind up and close the investigation,” he said.
City MCAs have faulted Sakaja for deploying Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers and seeking the assistance of KRA in revenue collection without seeking approval from the county assembly.
The committee is currently seeking an extension before submitting its report to the county assembly.
