James Kuria: Covid millionaire, who wears many hats

When James Njuguna Kuria appeared before the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee (PIC) last week to help unravel the procurement mess at Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa), he painted the picture of a compassionate hard worker looking to help.

A cool, calm and collected Kuria told lawmakers that his sympathy for a friend who contracted coronavirus drove him to seek a tender with Kemsa. 

The businessman said he personally went to the Kemsa headquarters and inquired on whether he could supply personal protective equipment (PPE), and just like that, he was handed a Sh180 million contract.

He bagged the big money tender, bypassing big pharmaceutical companies that had supplied PPE long before the pandemic struck.

A hard-working, compassionate and lucky man, at least from the Parliament proceedings.

Before the PIC, Mr Kuria admitted to having done business with Kemsa, through his La Miguela Holdings Ltd.

But what the proceedings did not answer is, who Mr Kuria is. How did his company —  a fire safety equipment supplier — bag a tender to supply medical equipment ahead of pharmaceuticals with past track record?

Mr Kuria was among other company representatives and owners who were quizzed on the irregular award of tenders to institutions after top Kemsa officials threw the procurement rule book out the window.

The Sh180 million tender for PPE supplies was the third order of business between Mr Kuria and Kemsa, from records on the State agency’s website, but is the first one involving medical supplies.

Hotel and landscaping

He admitted to supplying fire equipment valued at Sh400,000 Kemsa.

On November 12, 2019 La Miguela Holdings — one of Mr Kuria’s flagship businesses — signed a contract for a consultancy when Kemsa was conducting a fire safety audit on its premises countrywide.

The contract ran from the date of signing to December 26, 2019 and it earned La Miguela Sh1.485 million.

La Miguela Holdings is a joint venture between Mr Kuria and his wife, Jane Wairimu Njoroge.

Each has 50 shares in the company.

The firm was incorporated on March 21, 2014, records at the Companies Registry show.

While he is Kenyan, ordinary would not be the word to describe Mr Kuria.

In Ruaka, where three of his firms are, Mr Kuria is better known as Jimmy.

He holds a diploma in civil engineering, and one of his companies is involved in building and construction.

Mr Kuria plays the guitar, loves travel, spends time with his family and runs the occasional marathon, at least according to his social media pages.

But the engineer also has a knack for business, and wears many hats.

Depending on what day you ask, Mr Kuria could be selling fire safety equipment, supplying PPE, building a five-star hotel or landscaping.

He also has friends in high places. One of his closest is a principal secretary.

The two are close friends, but their relationship goes deeper, as they also do business together.

Last Wednesday when the Nation investigative desk spoke to Mr Kuria, he was at his construction business.

After failing to respond to our attempts to contact him, we posed as potential clients looking to put up a block of buildings and texted him.

Mr Kuria hurriedly informed us that his company, Jossie Construction Ltd, is open until 5pm on weekdays.

When we arrived at the office on Banana Road in Ruaka on Thursday, we met a Jossie Construction quantity surveyor.

Mr Kuria, who had said he would join the meeting, did not show up.

Jossie Construction Ltd put up a hotel on Thika Road that is owned by the PS and his family.

The luxury hotel has cottages, conference facilities and outdoor facilities like hiking, biking, fishing and kayaking; and is a popular choice for well-off couples looking to wed outdoors on manicured grass.

Fire safety equipment

Jossie Construction also built PCEA’s Apostolic Carmel Pre-Primary and Primary School in Donholm, Carmelvale Catholic Primary School and other similar projects in Nairobi, Eldoret and Bungoma.

The Companies’ Registry virtual portal indicates that Jossie Construction is unverified, which means the firm is yet to place its shareholding and other details on the government’s database as required by law.

But its registration number indicates that it was formally registered some time in 2012.

On some days, Mr Kuria deals in fire safety equipment through La Miguela Holdings.

The firm is the exclusive distributor of the Elide fireball, a device that extinguishes infernos.

The 1.5-kilogramme ball explodes when flames touch it, releasing a powder that can put out a fire before it becomes uncontrollable.

The device is manufactured by Elide, a Thai-based company.

La Miguela is also the sole distributor of needle smelters manufactured by South Korea’s Neo-Top Company.

In a 2018 interview, Mr Kuria said he got the inspiration for providing fire-fighting solutions when his hotel, La Miguela, was consumed by a blaze that destroyed Sh1.8 million equipment and stock in 2016.

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