A parliamentary committee investigating the Sh7.8 billion Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) scandal was stunned when the director of a company that won a tender to supply personal protective equipment valued at Sh4 billion said she could not remember the bank accounts of the firm and their signatories.
Ms Ivy Onyango Minyow of Kilig Ltd said she had to consult before coming back to the committee with accurate information on signatories of the accounts.
Ms Minyow requested the committee to give her five minutes to step out and make calls but she took 20.
On returning, she said she did not have the answers the lawmakers were looking for.
Ms Minyow said she only remembered Equity Supreme branch in Upper Hill and SBM Bank but could not disclose the directors of her firm or the other banks that held the company’s accounts.
“I’m afraid I don’t have the exact response the committee wants,” Ms Minyow told the Abdulswamad Nassir-chaired parliamentary team.
Powerful people
Angry MPs said Ms Minyow was acting on behalf of powerful people outside the National Assembly.
“There seem to be people outside this committee who are more important than us. That is a tragedy. If you are with those people, you will go down with them,” Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang told Ms Minyow.
“You are an impediment to truth. If you stand between us and the truth, we will pass through you.”
Maragua MP Mary Wamaua said Ms Minyow “is wasting our time since she knows what the committee wants but is not willing to provide the information that will unravel faces behind Covid millionaires”.
“If she cannot disclose the bank signatories and the accounts and has to go out and make calls, it confirms our fears about this scandal,” Ms Wamaua said.
“You cannot tell the world that you did business with Kemsa but cannot remember your co-signatories,” Mr Nassir said.
Company’s accounts
He ordered Ms Minyow to appear before the committee for the third time and disclose the signatories of her company’s accounts.
This was after Ms Minyow requested for two days to provide the details the lawmakers were asking for.
“There is nothing to hide. I am willing provide this committee with all the information it wants. Allow me to give clear answers to these questions in another session,” Ms Minyow said.
She is the sole director of Kilig Ltd, which won the tender to supply 450,000 kits each valued at Sh9, 000.
The firm, however, did not supply the equipment after the deal was cancelled following concerns about the tender.
Documents before the committee from the Registrar of Companies indicate that Kilig was registered on January 22, 2020, with Zhu Jinping and Wilbrod Gachoka as its directors.
Disbarred
In April, the two transferred their shares to Mr Collins Bush Wanjala, who later handed them to Ms Minyow the following month.
“Form CR9 notice of cessation of office of director dated May 7, 2020 and form CR19 special resolution dated May 5, 2020 and lodged by Collins Bush Wanjala, stated that he resigned as director/shareholder and transferred his 1,000 shares to Ivy Onyango Minyow,” reads the documents at the committee.
Ms Minyow was recalled for the second time by the MPs when they discovered inconsistencies in her testimony.
When she appeared before the committee in December, she claimed to be the one who registered the company.
However, documents from the Business Registrar do not indicate Ms Minyow’s as among those who registered it.
If found to have lied to the lawmakers, the 27-year-old lawyer could be disbarred as she testified under oath. BY DAILY NATION