Nairobi, Kenya: Outspoken trade union leader Francis Atwoli has told a House team that the management of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) should be prosecuted over the controversial Sh5 billion servicing of Tassia plots.
Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli
Speaking to the Public Investment Committee yesterday, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) secretary general said the NSSF management, led by acting Managing Trustee Richard Lang’at, should be taken to court for “abuse of office and fraud” regarding the Tassia project.
He claimed that the management team had entered into a Sh5 billion contract with a Chinese company to construct infrastructure to service the Tassia plots without getting proper approval from the NSSF board.
“I don’t know where this issue of awarding a Sh5 billion contract came from. The last time the board discussed it was in 2011 and the matter was dropped.
“On December 18, last year, I was shocked to hear that an e-mail had been circulated and the project approved,” he told MPs.
He added: “Two days later, I heard that that contract had been awarded. This is total abuse of office. If it was in another country, the management would have been charged in court by now,” he said.
Atwoli also wants Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi to be censured for taking sides with NSSF management over the multi-billion shilling saga instead of remaining a neutral arbiter.
Responding to questions by MPs, led by Adan Keynan (Eldas), Atwoli said the last board meeting they had was on December 9 last year and no such issue was discussed.
Atwoli said he travelled to the United Kingdom and when he returned on December 18, he learnt through Federation of Kenya Employers boss Jacqueline Mugo that an e-mail had been circulated seeking approval for the Sh5 billion project.
“I was shocked because I never saw the e-mail. I also wondered why such a huge project was being approved by email. I was very angry. Worse still, the contract was awarded to a Chinese company, just two days after the e-mail was purportedly circulated. I smelled a rat automatically and decided to go public,” he said.
By Ally Jamah, The Standard
