State House kicks out five more in limo row

Five more State House officials have been suspended over the purchase of luxury limousines that the First Family rejected.

The officials are accused of buying the vehicles without authorisation at a time when the government was preaching austerity.

At the same time, State House is caught up in a stand-off with the dealers who sold the vehicles, which have since been returned. One of the dealers, DT Dobie, said it considered the sale a done deal and only took back the returned vehicles for resale as second hand cars.

A source at State, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said that besides the chief finance officer, Mr J.K. Mutua, who was suspended last week, five other officials were also shown the door in the wake of the deal described by DT Dobie officials as “the most unusual in the 50 years” it has been selling cars to State House.

Mr Robert Chira, the head of mechanical department at State House, Mr John Mwirichia, the head of procurement and three of their staff members have been suspended, the source said.

Tender

They were members of the tender committee that bought the limousines the First Family considered an embarrassment in times of economic hardship.

DT Dobie media and corporate affairs manager Josphine Njuguna said: “These vehicles were returned but they belong to the government. Perhaps we are simply offering storage and we will demand our money though we don’t know what will happen. The reaction was so unprecedented.”

It was up to the government to decide what to do with the cars, she said, since they were bought procedurally and a Local Purchase Order issued in May. Ms Njuguna said once the vehicles were registered and GK number plates and logbooks issued, it became “legally tricky” to nullify the transaction.

Office of the President permanent secretary Francis Kimemia was said to be in a meeting when the Nation tried to contact him while Government spokesman Alfred Mutua did not answer his phone.

The vehicles at the centre of the controversy are four Mercedes Benz limousines, three Toyota Prados and one Nissan Hardbody.

They were all bought just before the accounts for the last financial year were closed.

One DT Dobie official said: “They were bought duty-free and stayed too long here because we had not received (tax) exemption letters. The moment we got them, we released the cars together with log books and GK registration number plates.”

But a State House official said: “We hope DT Dobie will not make a big issue out of it.”

Comply

The Head of State and the First Lady rejected the cars saying they had not ordered them and wished to encourage others to comply with Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s Budget day order that Cabinet ministers and top government officials should not use vehicles with an engine capacity of more than 1800 cc.

Among the Cabinet ministers who have since adopted vehicles that meet this criteria are Mr Kenyatta himself and the minister for North Eastern and Arid Areas Development, Mr Mohammed Elmi.

Housing minister Soita Shitanda is on record as saying that he would not use an 1800cc car because such vehicles are driven by teenagers