A section of influential Kenyans now wants Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o to resign over a suspicious Ksh15 billion payment made just days before the August 2022 general election.
Nyakang'o told Parliament yesterday that former Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani coerced her to approve the payment even as the Kenya Kwanza administration claims that billions of money were looted from public coffers in the last days of the previous administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Reacting to Nyakang'o revelations, former Mukurweini Member of Parliament Kabando was Kabando said the official violated the constitution and should step aside immediately to pave way for investigations into the matter.
According to Kabando, Nyakang'o should also opt to become a state witness to testify against beneficiaries of the supposed loot.
"Contoller of Budget violated the Constitution and indignified that office. She should resign immediately and wisely opt to become a state witness so that the real crooks, those gluttonous looting CSs go to jail, and the looted money recovered. Let's have no mercy on looters," Kabando said in a tweet thread.
The former legislator said the Controller of Budget failed to resist illegal demands, yet the officeholder is constitutionally protected. He further asked Yatani to come clean on where he took the money.
"All independent constitutional agencies on #stateCapture. CS Yukur Yatani should tell us where he took taxpayers' Sh15b while disclosing his accomplices so that they go Kamiti together," Kabando said adding that opposition leader Raila Odinga should not politicise the matter and allow persons linked to the alleged theft to face the law.
"...Fellow Kenyans, pls have no mercy, whether are Uhuru's or Ruto's allies. Hon Raila, now keep off this."
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi said Nyakang'o should take responsibility for her actions, insisting that coercion is not an excuse.
He suggested that Parliament should initiate the process of removing Nyakang'o from office if she fails to quit voluntarily.
"In my humble opinion, Ms. Margaret Nyakang'o the Controller of Budget MUST RESIGN TODAY or Parliament should start the process of removing her TOMORROW. She can't authorise the stealing of Shs 15 billion 2 days to elections allegedly because she was coerced," he said.
In my humble opinion, Ms. Margaret Nyakang'o the Controller of Budget MUST RESIGN TODAY or Parliament should start the process of removing her TOMORROW. She can't authorise the stealing of Shs 15 billion 2 days to elections allegedly because she was coerced. STUPID!— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) March 7, 2023
Nyang'o yesterday admitted that the money was spent without the approval of the National Assembly as required by law.
The Controller of Budget is answerable to Parliament. However, when she was asked to approve the payments, Parliament had been dissolved ahead of the election, thus leaving her office exposed, according to her testimony yesterday.
She told the Parliamentary Public Petitions Committee that Yatani put her under undue pressure to approve the payments.
According to her, the former CS created the impression that he was working at the behest of top State officials who needed to make urgent security-related payments to contractors.
In one instance, she said, she was given less than 26 minutes to make an approval for Ksh8 billion despite her insistence that she was out of office and needed until the following day to authorise the release of the money.
Nyakang’o said she was under duress to approve a controversial Ksh6 billion payment for the purchase of Telkom Kenya from Helios, a French company, and another Ksh9.5 billion, which was to be paid from the Annuity Fund just a week to the August 9 polls.
She had appeared before the MPs to respond to questions raised in a petition filed by Stephen Mutoro, Secretary-General of the Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) with regards to funds spent by the National Government without the approval of the National Assembly.
